


Catarina the Fallen Angel

by Reading5



Category: Hataraku Maou-Sama! | The Devil Is a Part-Timer!
Genre: Action & Romance, F/M, Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-10-02 03:49:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 71,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17257031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reading5/pseuds/Reading5
Summary: Catarina was a good friend of Lucifer in heaven, falls from grace and ends up reestablishing her friendship with him.





	1. Finally a Fallen Angel

A white-haired young woman sighed and put down her handwritten letter on her best friend’s kitchen table. “Yeah. I know. Sucks that I hafta leave, but life here is becoming so boring.” She looked one last time towards where he was momentarily sleeping and then disappeared into thin air.  
Moments later she landed on a red planet. She looked around with a smile. “Hasn’t changed much since I’ve last been here. Deadly and beautiful like always.” She knelt down and scooped some of the red sand into her hands. “Definitely this. Red like the blood that I’m gonna spill now that I’m here.” She was now in the demon realm, where countless murderous demons lived. From that moment on she started killing whoever the hell she wanted, whenever the hell she wanted. Depending on who it was against, she would use her sword Predator for a single attack and sometimes even her powers over fire. Sometimes even deciding to eat the demons after killing, cooked in her own special way.  
One day while relaxing outside, a small, bluish-silver-haired man teleported in front of her. She shot up, extended her sword and said sternly, “Sariel, what’re you doing here?”  
“Catarina,” Sariel said in a slightly fearful voice.  
“That’s not an answer to my question. I’m sure you know this, but this is the demon realm. High and mighty asshole angels don’t belong here.” Catarina was silent for a second and then added, “Even though my wings are still white, I consider myself a demon.”  
“Of course. I’m here to change that.”  
“What?” she all but spat. “I’m pretty sure you don’t have the power to do so, Sariel.”  
“I do now.” The archangel held himself up as high as he could before this woman. “God granted me the gift to make angels fall from grace after he fell.”  
“She did what now?!” Catarina said, anger boiling inside her. “Why? You can’t very well decide who should fall and not.”  
“I don’t decide. I just execute the fall from grace. As I will do with you now. I truly hate hurting someone as beautiful as yourself, Catarina. But it is my job.”  
“Yeah. Whatever. Get it over with. At least then I won’t be seen as so impure anymore. I’ll become a demoness with an angelic background.” She smiled at him in a way that made it seem like she was already doing great in her post as a resident of the demon realm. “Doesn’t matter either way. They’re all dead anyway.”  
He gulped and then snapped his fingers. Orbs appeared on Catarina’s hands and feet, holding her up in the air.  
“This really necessary? What, think I’m gonna try and run ’cause of the pain?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.  
“No. This will just keep you in place.” Sariel closed his eyes and when he opened them again they were glowing. Both his eyes expelled beams hitting Catarina like a bullet. It hit her hard, but still not hard enough to make her cry out in pain. Slowly but surely the magic started changing the colour of her wings to black. As Sariel was shooting beam after beam out of his eyes, this procedure went on for more than either of them honestly wanted. Sariel because he was causing a beautiful lady pain; and Catarina because for the first time in so long she remembered what true pain felt like.  
After it was all over, Sariel released his orbs and apologised one last time. “Sorry, but as I said, it had to be done”. He teleported away, leaving Catarina breathing raggedly.  
She slowly got up, making herself wince with every small movement. _Damn, this really is a literal pain. At least he warned me it was gonna hurt. Doubt anyone else would. _She looked up into the sky towards the blue moon. _Guess you would as well._ She started walking; realising that flying or teleporting wouldn’t be good for her agonised body. While she continued walking towards wherever her safe haven was, she suddenly heard behind her the flapping of wings and a loud gasp, a combination of both excitement and horror. “Catarina.”__  
She tried to turn around, but couldn’t stop the pain from coursing through her body again. The newcomer noticed what she was trying to do and quickly flew down beside her to help her with standing. “Cat, what happened? I heard screaming. I didn’t realise it was you until now. What are you doing here? Who did this to you?”  
She smiled at the newcomer and replied, “Fell from grace. Got bored up there. Sariel.”  
He had been smiling at her first answers, but turned serious at the last. “What? Sariel?” he said in a deadly calm voice.  
“Yeah. ’Parently the great God decided to give him the power to make angels fall from grace. Ergo my black wings.”  
The newcomer looked at her black wings and said with a smile, “They look good on you. You always were a demoness at heart.”  
She chuckled. “Oh, for crying out loud, Lucifer. You don’t have to say it like that.”  
Lucifer grinned at her because of the fact that he had made her chuckle. “Why not? It’s true. You always had this deadly intent to you that made you greater than any other angel up in heaven.”  
She rolled her eyes at him amused. “Sure. Now can we go somewhere else? Feel a little exposed here.”  
“Sure. Lean on me. Live near to here.”  
“Wow. You actually live somewhere?” she said, mock impressed.  
Now it was Lucifer’s turn to roll his eyes. “Yeah. The Sandy Wastelands. Spend my time there and sometimes leave to kill demons that annoy me. Or in this case help a damsel in distress.”  
She gave him an irritated smile, which made him chuckle. “Just wait till I’ve healed up and then we’ll see who this damsel in distress is.”  
The smile remained on his face as he answered, “Sure, Cat. Been so long since I’ve been able to fight you.”  
“Yeah. See how much stronger you’ve become,” she said with a challenging smile. “’Cause I can tell you this, Lucifer, I’ve been killing demons here left and right and have become quite a bit stronger since I’ve arrived here.”  
“Only quite a bit? That doesn’t sound promising, Cat.”  
“Oh, shut up,” she said, feeling as if the pain was slowly leaving her body. “I’ll have you remember that back when we were both in heaven, I could easily kick your butt. Even when you became our great leader.”  
He gave her an incredulous smile. “D’ya really have to add great?”  
She grinned at him. “’Course I did. Where would the fun be in saying anything else?”  
He let out a soft chuckle. “I’ve missed you, Cat. Really.”  
“Missed you too, Lucifer.”  
He grinned mischievously at her. “Really?”  
She went to shove him, but was held back by the pain going through her body. “Is it really that hard to believe, you idiot?”  
His grin wavered for a second since he hated the fact that she was in pain, but went along and said, “Missing you’s normal, Cat. But being missed by you is a great rarity.”  
She huffed with an incredulous look. “Well so be it then. How far is it still?”  
He looked ahead and said, “Reached the Sandy Wastelands. Now we just gotta get to a safe cave.” He studied her with a worried look. “The safest ones are quite high up. I get that it’d be difficult for you to fly, but I could...you know...maybe carry you,” he said sheepishly.  
Catarina smiled at him affectionately. “Guess that could work.”  
Lucifer slowly lowered himself down so it would be easier to pick her up for any position. _Crap. This is terrible. Why’s my heart beating so fast?_ he wondered at his accelerating heart rate. He slowly put one arm slightly above her knees and the other one under the base of her wings. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and he picked her up. “You all right?” he asked.  
“Yeah. Quite a comfy position actually,” she responded with a small smile.  
“Glad you like it, Cat,” he said, returning the smile, opening up his wings and soaring into the sky.


	2. “Willyoubemygirlfriend”

Lucifer found what he thought was an appropriate cave and landed near it swiftly. He walked into it, turning his face to Catarina to tell her that they had arrived, only to find that she had fallen asleep against his chest. This, for the second time this day, sent his heart skyrocketing along with giving his cheeks a pink tinge.  
He decided that it would be best to just let her sleep, so he carefully placed her against the wall. She looked so peaceful, sleeping there so serenely. One could almost forget how much of a killer she truly was. But Lucifer knew all too well who she had become in this demon realm.  
No one had actually mentioned her name so far in the demon realm; she probably never even bothered revealing it to anyone. But the word had spread about this white-haired, white-winged woman killing demons without remorse. This news had made him smile with pride, even though he had first been confused as to why she had decided to come over to the demon realm in the first place. Since apart from not being able to kill whoever she wanted, she seemed quite at home in heaven.  
So he had asked her. And her response – oh her response – had made him smile. It had been the same for him when he had decided to leave heaven all those years ago and to hear that she had felt the same just made him happy. She had made him happy. And hopefully, if she was willing to spend more time with him here, she would continue doing so. He just needed to figure out how to ask her properly. He settled himself alongside her protectively, continuously looking at her with a smile. Eventually she slowly opened her eyes and returned a smile.  
“Hi there, knight.”  
“Huh?”  
A twinkle appeared in her eyes, which threatened to suck him in. “Haven’t you heard of the saying ‘a knight in shining armour’? It’s used when someone saves you from a dangerous situation. You did that so now you’re my knight.”  
He shook his head and said, “Honestly, Cat, you’re unbelievable.”  
She shrugged in response. “I try.”  
Suddenly he made a click concerning what she had said before. “You said ‘my knight’ right?”  
She smiled at him sheepishly. “Maybe.”  
“Catarina?”  
“Yes. I did. It just...you took me to safety...therefore you’re a knight...and ’cause it was me who you saved, guess you could say that you’re my knight. Not like I’d see you as any kinda possession or anythin’, just you know, a friend,” she said embarrassed.  
He smiled at her in a way that made her want to teleport out of the cave. Seriously, what was she doing? What was he doing? Did she want something from him? She liked him, a lot. More than any of the people of her home planet. Meaning that this was really new and made her uncomfortable. She didn’t even know what love in the end was. She knew the basics of course. She loved her best friend, that was a given. But romantic love? What was that like? Would she end up feeling it for this fallen angel if stuff continued like this? She had been really happy when she had heard him say her name after all. And her pain had started to subside the moment they had started talking to each other. She sighed. _Best to see how things go_ , she thought.  
“You okay, Cat?” he asked worriedly.  
“Yeah. Fine. Just still hurts a bit,” she said dismissively.  
He growled, which sent electricity running through her body. “Sariel’s gonna pay.”  
“No,” she almost shouted, along with slightly reddened cheeks. She cleared her throat and then said, “He followed his orders, you know. I accepted it. He told me it was gonna hurt and I allowed it anyway ’cause I wanted to fall from grace. Now I’m a demoness and I’m happy. So please, Lucifer, don’t go after him on my account.”  
“You sure?”  
She nodded her head. “Yes.”  
“Ok. But you know, if there ever is someone you want me to kill, don’t hesitate to ask me.”  
She smiled broadly at him. “Thank you.”  
He shrugged casually. “Hey, it’s nothing. I like you, Cat. And...guess you’d probably do the same.”  
The light in her eyes seemed to grow brighter. She stared at him reassuringly. “I like you too, Lucifer. I’d do the same for you any chance I get. Anyone who dares hurt you is dead, or at the very least scarred. I promise you,” she said in a soft voice.  
He smiled at the ground, hiding the blush that had started to grow. “Thank you. You should get some more sleep.”  
“But I’ve already been sleeping for a while now,” she complained.  
He raised his eyebrows at her. “What happened? Thought you loved sleeping.”  
“I do. I just also really love talking to you,” she countered with a smile.  
This counter made Lucifer’s blush grow deeper and made him turn away. “Can do that later, Cat,” he said shyly.  
She studied him; wondering why the hell he was looking away from her now after her counter. She was silent for a while and then said, “Fine. You can also sleep if you want. Or keep watch. But yeah, whatevs, goodnight.”  
“’Night, Catarina,” he said, watching her find a nice place to sleep on the sandy floor.

____

Eventually, after deciding that no demon would be stupid enough to come near his territory, Lucifer also fell asleep; near the cave’s exit and a few centimetres from Catarina, making sure that no one would be able to come near her before experiencing his deadliness.  
And for the first time in so long he finally felt at peace, like he wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his days like that. For so long he had been bored down here, just like he used to be in heaven a long time ago and yet, whenever he spent time with her that boredom seemed to fade.  
He looked at her. Her hands were close to each other over her chest, her right hand holding onto her serpent-shaped ring on her left ring-finger. He smiled. Even while she was sleeping she was constantly ready for battle, considering that her ring was in fact her all powerful sword Predator.  
She had named it long before they had even met and yet when she had told him, he had looked at her with an incredulous smile. He couldn’t deny that the name was good and the motto that went with it – ‘predators always catch their prey’ – was something so…her.  
He looked over at her and could barely stop his hand from reaching towards her head, wanting to stroke that beautifully white hair. Make her his. He and his eyes shot up in alarm. If he wanted to do that, stroking her hair while she slept and anything else would be the worst things to do. He couldn’t just take her for himself because he had helped her and he was willing to protect her now, even if she was willing to do the same. She was a woman in her own right and he knew that she wasn’t likely to seriously take a man if she didn’t feel strongly about them. And they had only just met again.  
He would have to wait and see how things progressed. _Just fall asleep_ , he instructed himself and did so.

____

Hours later Catarina woke up and could feel that, even though her body was slightly stiff, it had stopped hurting. She looked downwards and could see tfhat Lucifer was still soundly asleep near the exit of the cave.  
The fallen angel looked down at him affectionately. So beautifully peaceful and yet so cute. Her smile turned into a grin. He was powerful, there was no denying that, but with that power came a small body; which had stopped growing the moment he had reached his fullest potential. Now he was just five centimetres smaller than her, which spoke to her natural instincts of protecting him.  
Lucifer stirred and slowly opened his eyes. “Hey,” he said groggily.  
“Hi,” she said with a smile.  
“How ya feeling?”  
“Good.” _Now that you’re here with me._  
He nodded. “Good. So what do you usually do around here?”  
“Kill demons, eat demons, sleep,” she said casually.  
“Why d’you eat them? We don’t have to eat, y’know.”  
“Oh, I know. I just sometimes like to eat them ’cause if they’re cooked just right, which I can easily do with my fire, they taste great.”  
He looked at her dubiously, which made her say, “Really. Next time we kill a demon, I’ll show you.”  
“So you want to spend more time with me?” he asked casually, even though his heart only wanted one answer.  
She looked at him as if saying he was being an idiot. “Yes, I do, you idiot. Time spent with you is more fun than time spent alone.”  
“What about time spent with him?” he asked, forcing himself to stay calm.  
“Huh?” she said confused at the reference to her best friend. “Guess. Think we’re more on the same wavelength as me and him.” She added with an exasperated smile, “And you know he wouldn’t wanna fall from grace, so there’s that as well.”  
“True. So from now on it’s just you and me,” Lucifer said nodding hopefully.  
“Which isn’t that bad,” she added with a pleased smile.  
“Not at all,” he said, smiling in return. He paused for a second and said shyly, “Catarina, can I ask you something?”  
“Sure.”  
Lucifer forced himself to calm down, hopefully making the blush that had started to grow on his cheeks disappear. “Will...will.” He paused and scowled. _It’s not that difficult. Just ask her._ “Willyoubemygirlfriend?” came out of his mouth in a mess.  
“What?” She thought that she had gotten the message, but just wanted to be sure. Maybe that would get rid of the blush that had started to grow in her cheeks.  
He closed his eyes and fixed her with his purple eye. “Will you be my girlfriend?”  
Now that he had asked the question, her blush grew so red that its colour could be compared to her eyes. Dammit, this was all so new. For her to actually like a guy, even if she wasn’t entirely sure yet to what extent. It didn’t matter whether she knew or not. Her heart, which had started beating faster the moment he had first asked it, knew. Knew that she wanted it. That she should do it. And even deep down she knew that they belonged together. That part was screaming at her to say it. “Yes,” she said, barely louder than a whisper. Then with more confidence, she repeated, “Yes.”  
He stared at her surprised. He had hoped for this answer, but he hadn’t actually expected it. Not in the way that she had said it at least. He carefully moved closer. He could do it. He had seen other people do it before up in heaven. If only his damn heart would stop beating so fast that it was difficult for him to concentrate on what was in front of him. Catarina looked at him cautiously and saw what he wanted to do, so also leant in. And then they kissed each other at first cautiously but soon in a tight embrace, making it feel like fireworks were exploding in their bodies.


	3. "My idiot"

For the two fallen angels, an unknown amount of time past. Each one feeling more euphoric than the last moment, considering they were starting to realise what romantic love actually felt like. Lucifer had realised it after Catarina had brutally slaughtered a demon. Afterwards when she had smiled at him and started cooking their meal, which he had to admit he liked, he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this wonderful demoness. She made his heart sing a song that he never wanted to stop. And the more he realised it, the more he wanted to tell her, hoping that she reciprocated those feelings. But he couldn't help but hold a little bit of doubt in his heart. She had lived for longer than him and in all those years, on her home planet and in heaven, she had never been with anyone, wanted to be with anyone. He, much to his own surprise, was her possible first.  
He looked up and came face to face with the woman he had been thinking about moments earlier. “Hi there, honey,” she said with a smile. “What's up?”  
“Nothing,” he said dismissively.  
“Are you sure?” she said with a playful tone that made him want to pull her into an eternal kiss. “'Cause seemed like you were thinkin’ 'bout somethin'.”  
“Not important then.”  
She chuckled. “Cute that you think that any of your thoughts aren't important.”  
“Fine. I'll tell you later,” he said, which sent her into happy clapping and made him stare affectionately at her.  
“Wait,” she said, suddenly centimetres from his face.  
“What?”  
“Can I guess?” she asked, the twinkle in her eyes growing.  
“Really, Cat, can't I keep any thoughts to myself?”  
“'Course you can, Luci, but guessing what you're thinking is fun.” She started stroking over his head and added in a seductive voice, “I mean, who wouldn't want to know what goes on in that great big brain of yours?”  
His cheeks got the same colour as his girlfriend's eyes as he said, “Fine.”  
“Yay,” she said happily. “Now, how to guess?” she mused. “First, important thing, d'you want me to know?”  
He looked at the floor shyly, which made her look at him lovingly. "Was gonna tell you later anyway, so yeah, you're allowed to guess."  
"Good. 'Cause otherwise it'd be pretty bad. Is it something embarrassing?"  
He fixed her with an unbelieving gaze and said with a smile. “Really?”  
All she gave him in response was a carefree shrug.  
“Not really. Could depend on what you hafta say 'bout it after you find out as well.”  
She nodded. “So you hope that I agree with you?”  
“Yeah.”  
“D'you think I will?”  
“Dunno. It's kinda different.”  
She slightly bit the bottom of her lip and smiled at him. _No matter what it is, must be something different. But what could it be? We tell each other everything. Is he regretting this? I know I can sometimes be a pain._ The twinkle in her eyes grew dimmer, making Lucifer look worriedly at her. “Cat, what's wrong?”  
“Nothing. I mean...my brain's kinda going to the wrong end of the stick. But still,” she let out a deep sigh, “you still want to be with me, right?”  
His eyes widened in shock. “Course I do, Cat. I-” love you. He wanted to say, but wasn't sure whether he should, considering she wanted to guess it. Maybe if he helped her in the right direction. “It's a positive thought.”  
“So a positive thought concerning me?”  
“Yes.”  
“Is it that I'm plain awesome?”  
He chuckled. “Got something to do with that, yeah.”  
“Mmmm, now that's interesting.” _Maybe if I also think about it from my perspective of him. I think he's awesome. And I...want to spend the rest of my life with him. Because I_ , a small smile spread across her lips, _love him. I actually do love him._ She looked at him and saw that he had gone from looking at the ground to looking at her – along with an affectionate smile. “Lucifer.”  
“Yes?”  
“I love you.”  
His face turned from surprised, to grinning within seconds. “I love you too, Catarina.”  
She grabbed his jacket and pulled him in for a kiss. “Next time you think something like that, just tell me, you idiot. Chances are I feel the same.”  
“But having you guess it while making all those great faces is too great to pass off.”  
She giggled and rested her forehead against his chest. “You truly are my idiot.”  
He stroked her head and kissed her forehead. “Always,” he murmured.


	4. Alliance

Centuries later, after making the Sandy Wastelands their permanent home, someone suddenly started calling out their names while they were napping. Catarina tried to shake her boyfriend awake, but all she got in return was a groan. She looked at him lovingly, said, “Fine. I’ll check it out then,” and kissed him on the cheek before opening her wings up behind her.  
“No. I’m up,” Lucifer said groggily, arising in a zombie like fashion. “Just a few more secs.”  
Catarina chuckled. “For what? You plan on killing our newest opponent with your looks?”  
He gave her an irritated smile and said, “Just give me time to get up, Cat.”  
She leant against the wall besides the cave opening. “Will do.” She looked outside. "Even though I really do want to know who's making all that noise."  
He was by her side within seconds. “I hate it when you do this.”  
“Do what?” she asked with a playful smile.  
“This. But then again. You did forget something,” he said with a grin.  
“Oh yeah. Silly me,” she said, kissing him good morning. “ _Now_ let’s see what’s up.”

____

They saw a small demon calling their names and Lucifer decided to greet him with his heat orbs, surrounding the stranger.  
“...Did I make you angry?” the stranger asked nervously, not daring to budge out of fear of being incinerated.  
“Who the hell are you?” Lucifer asked from above.  
“…Can I lift my head to look up?” the newcomer asked meekly.  
“Alright. But if you dare make any weird movements, I will pierce your eye through your head.”  
_I love him_ , Catarina thought with a giggle.  
The stranger managed to lift up his head carefully and noticed just how small his conversation partner was. He appeared only about the same size as the demon himself. “Are you Lucifer?”  
“Yes, are you the one who called us?”  
“Uh, yeah, something like that.” The stranger shifted his eyes to the person who had giggled and inhaled sharply. She looked like a much younger version of someone he had met years earlier and Lucifer looked even younger than Catarina and the angeleither of them. The only main differences were that she was smaller and had white hair instead of silver, which was tied in a loose braid and was hanging over her left shoulder. The fact that both demons above him had black wings extending from their backs with no other defining traits was definitely something new. The clothes that they were wearing were also of a design that he had never seen before. “And you’re Catarina.”  
“That I am,” Catarina replied with a smile.  
Lucifer growled in a protective manner, which made Catarina bite the inside of her lip and roll her eyes. “So, what business do you have with us? We were in the middle of napping. If the contents are boring, I’m going to burn you to crisp and then go back to sleep.”  
“Ah, may I speak?”  
“You may.”  
“Anyway, let me introduce myself. I’m called Satan. I live somewhere south of this sandy wasteland, a place filled with boulders. I came here today because I have something to say to you.”  
“I know you have something to say. Get straight to the point, I don’t have much patience.”  
“Come on, sweetie. Let the poor kid talk. I want to hear what he has to say. Definitely since he has such a common name. Sorry about him, as he said he just got up and he’s still a little grumpy,” Catarina said smiling teasingly at Lucifer.  
Satan mustered up the courage and said in the silence that followed, “…Do you want to play together with me?”  
“Play?” Catarina said intrigued with a twinkle in her eyes, letting herself land right in front of Satan. “Playing a game sounds like fun.”  
Satan, not expecting the sudden appearance of the demoness in front of him almost fell over but was luckily able to regain his balance before he was burnt alive by the orbs.  
Catarina laughed. “Sorry ’bout that. I have a tendency to get a little too upfront sometimes. So what’d you want to do with us?”  
“I want to bring you somewhere to play. Besides, the two of you are free right now, right? Do you want to go do something fun with me?”  
“Something fun huh. Right now, spending time with my Cat and just killing off the nearby demons when I feel like it can be considered quite fun. Is there something more fun than this?” Lucifer asked.  
“If you don’t find it fun anymore, you can kill me to ensure that there is something that ‘can be considered quite fun’,” Satan suggested.  
“…You’re really interesting.” Lucifer became more interested.  
“No kidding. Willing to bargain your life like that,” Catarina said, smiling down at Satan, making his heart do a double take.  
Just then Lucifer released his heat orbs surrounding Satan.  
“Wahaaa!” Satan exhaled all the air that he was holding and weakly fell onto the ground.  
Lucifer landed next to Catarina and asked Satan, who was breathing raggedly, “What? You’re frightened from such a thing?”  
“It-it can’t be helped…my ability is not that strong after all.”  
“Hmph. So what kind of entertainment can a small fry like you provide us?”  
Now Satan had the chance to properly look at his male conversation partner and noticed just how young he looked, definitely considering what he had heard about him from Camio, an old demon from the Pahalo Denino clan. He also noticed that out of the two demons standing in front of him Lucifer was definitely shorter, by a few centimetres sure, but shorter none the less. Making it even more unbelievable at how strong these two were said to be.  
After a short pause Satan said a single word, “...Change.”  
““Change?”” the couple repeated.  
“That’s right. I heard that you are very strong,” Satan said, holding the gaze of both demons, “and that seems to be true in reality. What kind of demons do you usually fight?”  
“There’s nothing special, they’re just like everyone else. As long as I feel like they’re in the way or they’re targeting me then I’ll kill them off, that’s all.”  
“Same here. Ending their miserable existence could probably be seen as a good thing,” Catarina added casually.  
Satan felt a chill run down his spine. This demoness was definitely something different, that’s for sure. Nothing like ‘that woman’ that he knew. Catarina may seem kind, but there was definitely nothing that would stop her from killing any opponent in cold blood. “But, to you, fighting can be considered enjoyable?” he asked, looking at the couple.  
“Yeah, Cat and I are really strong. Being able to beat up my opponents is an enjoyable thing.”  
Catarina giggled. “Yeah. Seeing those desperate faces when they realise the end is near is also quite enjoyable.”  
“I can satisfy you when you are looking for something enjoyable, I can help you prepare enemies and situations necessary for you.”  
This got an interesting reaction from both members of the couple.  
“…Oh?”  
“Mhhh.”  
“Of course, once you feel that you have had enough and you don’t feel like cooperating with me, you’re free to stop anytime.”  
“Is this the ‘entertainment’ you were talking about?” Lucifer asked.  
“Nope. It’s just me working hard to prepare appropriate offerings for you.”  
“You’re right about that. Then again, you’re only a brat, how do you know such complicated words?”  
“I also have my hardships,” Satan said offhandedly, which made Catarina look at him curiously. _This kid really is interesting_ , she thought.  
“Your powers and mine can change the battle in the demon realm. The demons of this world will imitate the battle between you and me. In the end, I will stand at the peak of the world. Of course, I will handle all the troublesome things; you just have to fight in my place whenever you feel like it.”  
“The demons of this world will imitate the battle between you and us? How can such a thing happen?”  
“Even if I use words to explain, you probably won’t be able to understand. As long as you follow me, you will experience it yourself.”  
“…” Lucifer momentarily fell into silence as though pondering Satan’s words. “Hmph...you definitely helped me pass some time.”  
“…Huh?”  
Lucifer, who really only thought about things for a slight moment, nodded his head and pointed a finger right at Satan. Catarina, realising what her boyfriend was about to do, put her hand on his arm and said, “Lucifer, wait.”  
Lucifer scowled at his girlfriend. “Come on, Cat. You can’t be serious?”  
“Pretty much, yeah,” she said with a guilty smile.  
Lucifer sighed. “Ok. Since this woman over here believes in you for some reason. I want to test you. You said that you’ll help prepare me enemies if I wanted to fight. Right now, I want to kill you or fight someone else for some fun. Help me get some enemies. If not, this talk ends. You have ten seconds.”  
“You want me to prepare enemies now?”  
“Uh huh, that’s right. I request that you help me prepare about ten demons. Eh, that is, if you can do it.”  
Catarina sighed. _Poor kid. He really seemed interesting. But this is the demon realm after all. No mercy for anyone, not even kids like him._  
Lucifer sighed. “I admit that you are an interesting guy. But I detest people who say empty words. In the first place, I’m not someone who’s that hard-working and there’s no guarantee that you can keep bringing me entertainment.”  
Catarina – who was looking at Satan regretfully – thought preparing ten demons in ten seconds was impossible. But just as Lucifer was about to pierce through Satan’s body with one of his rays Satan said fearlessly, “Who said I can’t do it?”  
“Ah?” Lucifer said, feeling like something was not right. Then there was suddenly an explosion and hit Lucifer’s back, which made him groan. “Lucifer!” Catarina called out. “Are you all right?”  
“Fine,” he said, extending his wings and flying into the air, turning to face his newest opponents. Lucifer and Catarina noticed that numerous giant boulders were flying in their direction, which Satan tried to dodge frantically. Catarina looked at Satan with an amused expression and said, “This doesn’t mean that we’re ok.” Then she extended her arm and created a huge blue fire wall between them and the boulders, incinerating each and every one.  
“That’s the Irons Scorpion clan attacking,” Lucifer said surprised. And he could sense that there were definitely ten of them, making him wonder how the hell this little brat could’ve put all this together.  
“That’s nice to know, sweetie. Want me to take them down as well?” Catarina said, slightly amused by her boyfriend being caught off guard like this.  
“No. I’ll do it,” Lucifer answered, concentrating magic into his wings. Then he released all of his feathers explosively, sending them all towards the Iron Scorpions, who were using telekinesis to move the boulders. This resulted in their obvious death.  
Once the attack had stopped, Catarina let down her wall of fire and turned to Satan. “Honestly, I don’t know whether I should be mad or impressed. How’d you do it?”  
Lucifer, on the other hand, wasn’t so calm and grabbed Satan and lifted him into the air. “What did you do?”  
“Wha-what is it? What are you doing? Let go of me!” Satan said, struggling.  
“I’m the one asking the questions here. How did you do that? How did you bring those Iron Scorpions here and let them attack us? Those bastards will never listen to demons who are not their companions.”  
“I didn’t bring them here! I planned for them to come here! They were not under anyone’s command; they came here on their own accord!”  
“Planned….? On their own accord? What are you saying?”  
“I-I won’t speak any further! If you want to know, then go play at where I live! Or I won’t tell you how I did it!”  
“…Are you freaking serious? Actually looking down on me like that…!”  
“Uwah!”  
Catarina, who had at first decided to let her boyfriend take the lead in this conversation was looking on with fascination. “Lucifer,” she interrupted now, as she realised that her boyfriend would probably kill this kid soon anyway. But just then a glaring purple light flashed from the protective necklace with a purple crescent shape Satan was wearing around his neck. This forced Satan and Lucifer apart.  
Catarina gasped confused, feeling a part of her memory tug at her as she concentrated her eyes on Satan’s neck area. She managed to zoom in enough making her brain scream out even more that this was something important in one way or another. I’ll ask him about it later when I get the chance. _Maybe he knows._  
“Just, just now…what was that…?” Lucifer said, looking at his girlfriend, who was just as stumped as he was.  
“That huuuuuuurrrrrrttttttttt? Wha-what was that just now!” Satan whined, rolling around in pain, not understanding the magic of his own necklace.  
“What is your plan for recruiting us?” Lucifer asked, not wanting to be distracted.  
“That really hurtsssss…eh? What?” Satan said, just realising he’d been asked a question.  
“What benefits will there be if we work with you?”  
“…Hm? What, you’re willing to come with me?”  
“Answer me. What is your goal? First you pique my interest then you say that you want to play with me. Cat seems all for it, but I want to know whatever it is, you need our strength to reach your goal right?”  
“Yeah! That even if I say it directly. I’m not even sure if the other person will understand. At least, all those fellas who I met before were all unable to comprehend what I’m saying,” Satan said vaguely.  
“…If I really had to say it, I never thought there would be a demon who was able to say such words. Are you really a demon? What are you thinking?” Lucifer demanded.  
“…About that.” Satan patted his body which was covered in dust. “It’s okay to tell you, I don’t plan to hide it in the first place. But I really hope that you can follow me, please don’t misunderstand that I…” -he pointed towards the sky- “...want to go there.”  
The couple could not refrain from looking upwards. At the moment they could see nothing but red sky, but they knew all too well what lay further ahead.  
“Even though I only heard about it from someone else, I am unable to reach that place by myself. Even if I reached it, I will probably die immediately.”  
“…You heard about it from someone else?”  
“As I was saying, because there is no way to go there right now, I want to build up my skills and then I want to change the demon realm.”  
“…You’re saying such exaggerated things again...”  
“I’m not joking. At least according to the information I heard.” Satan pointed towards the sky once more. “Before that goal stand many people who are stronger than me. Camio or yourselves, their numbers are also even more than the numbers belonging to the largest clan. If I meet people like them, it would be troublesome if it evolved into a war. Therefore, I need to gather all of the demons and become stronger. So, what do you plan to do? You might lose a bit of time following me but I do not think you will be in a disadvantageous situation. If you find yourself sick of it and you want to leave, you can. It’s even okay to kill me.”  
“…” Lucifer was silent, Catarina just smiled kindly at Satan.  
Lucifer glanced at Satan’s face and gazed at the sky once more.  
“About the people who live far away…” _Who told you about them?_ Lucifer quickly swallowed the words that were about to escape from his mouth. He knew that Catarina would probably ask Satan all kinds of things when she got the chance and didn’t feel like stealing any of her questions.  
“Hm? What is it?”  
“No…it’s nothing.” Lucifer shook his head, took a deep breath and glared at Satan threateningly. “Once I’m tired of it, I will leave immediately.”  
Catarina chuckled. “That’s a step further than killing the poor kid.”  
“That’s greatttttttttt! I’m really thankful! I’m super happy! Thank you!” Satan said, clapping his hands happily.  
“Ehya?” Even though one can say that it was a moment of carelessness, Lucifer still became flustered when his hand suddenly got grabbed. “What are you doing?”  
The other party did not waver even when his hand got slapped away.  
“Hm? Strange? You don’t do this either? When you’re happy, you’re supposed to ‘shake hands’ with the other person right? That was what I heard.”  
Catarina had started laughing at her boyfriend’s embarrassment. “No, it is done sometimes. Lucifer’s just not the kinda guy who’d do something like that.”  
“So I’m allowed to shake your hand?” Satan said happily.  
“Sure.”  
While Satan was shaking Catarina’s hand, he received an even deadlier glare from Lucifer than he’d ever done before, so Satan let go quickly out of fear of being incinerated anyway.  
“Good. Since we have reached this stage, let’s not dillydally any longer! So just follow me first, Lucifer, Catarina! After this, it’s a race against time.”  
“I say, my powers are above yours and I’m much older than you. And Cat’s are even greater. Why don’t you have a shred of respect for us?”  
“You should also know that it’s not normal to ‘respect’ demons from other clans.”  
“!”  
“Sorry, I won’t respect you. I won’t let anyone see me like that. That’s not something a normal demon would do. And no one knows that I’m not normal. That is my current advantage. I believe that you would be able to understand that. So I will not show you any respect.”  
“...I see,” grumbled Lucifer.  
Then Satan started walking towards his home base.  
Lucifer sighed. “How many days do you plan on spending going back? Cat.” He looked at her, she understood, he picked up the younger demon and handed him over to his girlfriend, who also took a hold of him.  
“Where abouts do you wanna go?”  
“There! In front of those two mountains that are joined together!”  
“…Oh, it’s the place where that talkative old bird is, right?” Lucifer said.  
“You really do know Camio! Camio said he had an exciting duel with you before.”  
“Oh, so that old man treated his battle against me as his own heroic legend huh…I’ll just go scare him since I haven’t seen him for a long time.” This statement made Catarina giggle.  
“Speaking of which, I’ve been wanting to ask, why didn’t you finish Camio off after defeating him?” Satan asked.  
“…What, that old man didn’t tell you?”  
“Nope.”  
“Must’ve been too embarrassed of the reason. I managed to convince Lucifer to let him live. Like for moments like this,” Catarina said with a smile. “So you ready? This will only take a sec.”  
“Yes,” Satan said, wondering what the demoness was about to do.  
Then the three demons disappeared into thin air.


	5. The plan

The trio reappeared at the settlement for the Pahalo Denino clan, making all of the demons panic because of the sudden appearance of Lucifer and Catarina. “Wow, nice welcome,” Catarina said with a smile as she let go of her passengers.  
“Camio! I’m back!” Satan shouted.  
And the one leading the group was of course, Camio.  
“Lu-Lu-Lucifer?”  
“Hi…long time no see, Camio.” Lucifer flashed a cruel smile and stared at a flustered Camio.  
“Here as well, Camio,” Catarina said smiling, waving at the demon.  
“And Catarina,” he said. “You-you-what are you doing here?!”  
“Hmph, seeing how surprised you look, this probably isn’t an idea that you helped him come up with,” Lucifer said.  
“Oooh, you went behind the old bird’s back. I like it,” Catarina said with a playful smile.  
“Wha-what’s that supposed to mean! What did you say about me?!” Camio asked confused about Lucifer’s word.  
“No, nothing much. An interesting brat invited us to play, so we’re merely accepting his invitation.”  
“Accepting his invitation… H-hey, Satan, you didn’t really….”  
“Didn’t I say it before?! He’s unexpectedly easy to talk to. Especially Catarina, she seemed really interested. Try your best not to make them unhappy because Lucifer and Catarina are now my comrades.”  
“His playmate,” Lucifer corrected.  
“Comrade is good,” Catarina added, looking at her boyfriend affectingly.  
“Un-unbelievable…” Camio said, lost for words. “Ri-right! Satan, you rascal! What did you ask one of my subordinates on your own accord? One of the scouts told me that the Iron Scorpion’s territory had some strange movement.”  
“Oh, you’re that guy who got asked by me to go to the boundary of the Iron Scorpion clan’s territory and shout ‘Lucifer and Catarina have joined sides with the Ashen Horns’, right?” Satan said, looking at one of Camio’s subordinates.  
“Huh?”  
“What did you say?”  
Both Lucifer and Camio were immensely surprised by this unexpected answer, Catarina however just kept listening with a growing grin, intrigued by this young demon’s plan.  
“Those Iron Scorpions were probably scouts who got sent out to verify Lucifer and Catarina’s movements. But I never thought they would launch an attack without giving a warning first. I actually wanted them to just approach Lucifer and Catarina and then get discovered.”  
“So that’s how it is,” Catarina said, satisfied with the explanation.  
“…Oh, I see,” was all that Lucifer could muster. Then he thought of another question, “If the Iron Scorpions did not come, what did you plan to do?”  
“Knowing the Iron Scorpion’s clans regular patrol and behaviour, I believed they would definitely arrive. I walked there calculating how long they would take. Furthermore, I had another script for what to do if the Iron Scorpions arrived first and attacked Lucifer.” Satan casually shrugged his shoulders. “Also, if I got killed by you, it means that my life is only to that kind of level, just like the rest of my clan.”  
“Using your own life as a gamble is the last resort among last resorts. Please treat yourself with more importance,” Camio lectured.  
“Heh heh heh…” Perhaps Satan understood this as he awkwardly laughed while scratching his head.  
Camio seemed to have realised something and closed up on Satan once more. Satan nodded, knowing what Camio had realised. “That’s right. Lucifer and Catarina’s ‘restrictions’ have disappeared, so the environment for the Ashen Horns and Iron Scorpions to wage a full scale war is complete. Once the Iron Scorpions realise that Lucifer and Catarina have left the Sandy Wastelands, a war will start.”  
“What are you thinking, you rascallllllllll! Are you trying to put the lives of my clansmen in danger?!”  
“Hurtttttttttttssssssss!”  
Camio started strangling Satan.  
Lucifer thought of something that could dissuade the demon. “...Wait, old bird. Don’t forget about Cat and I. Currently we are standing on your side. Satan didn’t do anything stupid.”  
“Ye-yeah, Camio! Lucifer and Catarina are comrades! Comrades!”  
“Who would believe that! Even if these two are comrades, so what…!”  
“As long as Lucifer and Catarina move with us, then whether it’s the Ashen Horns or the Iron Scorpions or even other stragglers, they would know that Camio is not the only one supporting us here!”  
“So what?! Even if Lucifer, Catarina and myself are here, we cannot interfere with the all-out war between the Ashen Horns and the Iron Scorpions! Whether it’s the clan leaders on both sides or the warriors who get dragged in, there are too many unpredictable factors!”  
Once Satan had escaped from Camio’s wings, he rubbed his neck which had been strangled just moments ago and said with tears in his eyes, “Calm down a bit Camio! Who said that we’re going to interfere with them! Let go of me!”  
“If you don’t plan to interfere, then what do you plan to do? Don’t tell me you plan to run away? If you want me to be your bodyguard during the escape, I’m going to leave now.”  
_Idiot_ , Catarina, who was quietly listening to the whole conversation with a smile, thought.  
Satan wagged his finger at Lucifer.  
“How is that possible?! Sigh, even though I can’t deny that I want you to be a bodyguard…or you,” he said, looking at Catarina. This resulted in glower from Lucifer and made Satan think, _He really is protective of her. I wonder why? It’s not like she needs it._ As he spoke, Satan started to draw the diagram of influence of the surrounding areas. Lucifer watched Satan fluently write down ‘words’, which were hardly ever used by demons, in surprise.  
“Old man, did you teach him this?”  
“…No.”  
“Wow. And it’s quite nice handwriting,” Catarina said, bending down to have a closer look. “Better than someone I know,” she said, looking teasingly at Lucifer.  
All she got in response was an irritated smile.  
“Thanks,” Satan said in a small voice, just taking his attention off the diagram for a second.  
“Lucifer and Catarina, the Iron Scorpions and the Ashen Horns have always been fighting each other at this place, even if Lucifer and Catarina have left the place for the time being right now, the Iron Scorpions and the Ashen Horns would probably only discover this after a period of time, so we can make use of this time window.”  
After saying this, Satan changed the ‘Ashen Horns’ which he had written down to ‘Us’.  
“We are going to obtain the Ashen Horns, and conquer the northern part of the demon realm, and change the situation to a battle between the Iron Scorpions and us.”  
“…I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all.”  
Satan answered Lucifer nonchalantly, “To put it in a more extreme manner, we just have to do the same thing as when I brought you and Catarina here. Because we have many warriors who can reply, we will challenge the Ashen Horns whom we have more advantage over when we fight. And that place is close to here!”  
Lucifer sighed and Camio who exchanged a glance with Lucifer went on to say, “What did you say?” Catarina however was hanging on every word Satan spoke like an avid listener.  
Satan happily looked at both their surprised expressions, and was intrigued by the demoness’ attentiveness and pointed to the map with ‘Us’ written on it once more. “We have to make Adramelech and the Ashen Horns who he leads become our ‘playmates’ before the Iron Scorpions discover that Lucifer and Catarina are not around. Hey, Camio.”  
The elderly demon swordsman shuddered in response and froze.  
Lucifer laughed. “Are you afraid?”  
Catarina just snickered and said under her breath, “I’m starting to like this more and more.”  
“This is a chance for the name of the Demon Bird General Camio of the Pahalo Denino clan to spread far and wide once more. Do you want to join in?”


	6. The next day

The following day Satan and Lucifer snuck into the Ashen Horns’ base to have a talk with the clan leader, Adramelech. To divert the attention of the Ashen Horns to somewhere else, Satan’s alliance started a fight with the demons. They were of course strictly forbidden to kill anyone, because it could cause problems later on. Once they had reached the throne room, Satan had a fight with Adramelech. Even though him gaining victory seemed unlikely, he still did in the end – along with some new powers. Flying and shooting off heat rays – not as hot as Lucifer’s, but still hot enough. After the alliance was sealed, Lucifer and Satan went back to their home base, to see how things had gone on the bigger fighting side. They arrived and were greeted by a grinning Catarina holding Predator, covered in blood – her sword and herself. “You’re back. How’d it go?”  
Lucifer grinned at his girlfriend’s deadliness and answered in Satan’s stead, “Good. He defeated him and now we’re allies with the Ashen Horns.”  
“That does sound good.” She looked at Satan who was staring at her in wonder with a hint of fear. “You okay?”  
“Yes. You’re just covered in blood and it’s really weird. You didn’t kill anyone, did you?”  
She laughed. “’Course not. Did promise, didn’t I. Just got a bit excited when fighting. But what’s wrong with a little blood?” She flicked her sword and the blood on it flew onto the ground.  
“Nothing,” he said, then turned around to walk away. _She seems like someone who’s bad side I really shouldn’t get on._  
“So…,” Lucifer started.  
“So?”  
“You having fun?” he asked with a smile.  
She grinned at him and indicated her blood-covered body. “Does this look like I’m having fun?”  
“Very. Hope the brat can keep it up though.”  
She shrugged. “It’s a way we get to spend our time. If he can’t keep his word, we’ll just leave.”  
He grinned at her lovingly. “I love you,” he said and then kissed her.


	7. The Iron Scorpions

Ten years later the Ashen Horns and Iron Scorpion fought a battle for alliance. Unfortunately the Ashen Horns lost and now the Iron Scorpions had taken over the Stone Village belonging to the Ashen Horns. After another ten years Satan decided to try and align himself with them again. This plan was more secret then the one before. Satan had found an interesting new way of flying, riding on a flying dragon, and had decided to take one – with Camio’s permission – on a test drive. But much to Camio and Lucifer’s surprise, he decided to fly further than they had originally thought he was going to go. Camio ordered for the troops to be gathered and went along with everyone else towards the territory of the Iron Scorpions.  
Satan arrived and was unfriendly greeted by Alciel, the Iron Scorpions’ clan leader. Satan informed Alciel about his plan to conquer the demon realm, who widened his eyes in shock at hearing the news.  
“Conquer, the entire demon realm...” Alciel repeated Satan’s words.  
Because Satan understood that only Alciel was thinking about the true meaning behind Satan’s words, he chose to wait.  
Then, Alciel seemed to have discovered something. “I see…you’re the successor of the Demon Bird General. Are you the one controlling the Ashen Horns from behind?”  
“You know about me? It’s an honour. I shouldn’t have done anything which would have reached the ears of Lord Alciel from a large noble clan.” Satan had rarely showed himself these twenty years.  
Even from the battle even years ago, Adramelech and the veterans of the Ashen Horns were fighting, logically nothing which would cause Alciel to hear of the name Satan should have occurred.  
But, Alciel knew. No, more like he deduced it. “The Ashen Horns are not so smart to carry out that kind of retreating strategy. And the vagrant demon who logically should not be interacting with anyone; also brought your name over yesterday. With this, is there a need for other reasons?”  
Satan smiled in satisfaction. “Just like you thought, I am the demon behind them. I am from the Black Goat clan.”  
“Black Goat clan……I have no impression of them. They are not worth remembering.” Alciel had only heard the name of this clan, because they were a weak clan whose numbers were about the same as those of vagrant demons, he only remembered that the clan had perished very early on.  
“Haha, it can’t be helped. We are a very weak clan after all. Just Lord Alciel of a noble clan being able to remember that the clan was not worth remembering is considered rather good already.”  
“…Ugh.”  
Even if his birth clan was ridiculed, Satan was not bothered and even leisurely answered in a sarcastic manner. “But you will definitely lose to the demon whose birth clan was not even worth remembering. At that time, you will remember it clearly. Black Goat Clan, as well as the name Satan Jacob.”  
At this instant, the whole mountain range was enveloped in killing aura.  
Other than Alciel, everyone else rose to the shallow provocation.  
The other party had been displaying a high and mighty attitude, and was actually insulting the clan leader directly right now, it would be strange if they did not get angry.  
Only Alciel maintained his composure.  
“This common name of Satan isn’t even worth remembering. But, I remember your face now.”  
“Oh?”  
“You will challenge us sooner or later to continue the battle ten years ago right? At that time, I will spare none of you such that all of you will not even have a chance to regret that you have insulted me and the Iron Scorpion clan.”  
“If you say too much, you’ll regret it when you cannot achieve it later. Silence is golden.”  
“Cease those strange words of yours,” Alciel mumbled then raised his arm in front of him. “As long as I wave this hand downwards, the warriors here will launch attacks at you simultaneously. Scram before that happens. Foolish demon. The next time we meet will be on the battlefield.”  
“Thanks. Then let’s do that.”  
Satan judged that it was time to retreat. Since he already understood Alciel’s behaviour, Satan just made the flying dragon turn back. “Excuse me, goodbye.” Then he lightly waved to Alciel and flew towards the sky in the northwest direction.

Back at his home base, Satan informed the others what had happened, “It’s like this; I declared war on Alciel.”  
“Idiot!”  
“Are you an idiot?”  
“I should still say it anyway. You idiotic brat!”  
“Interesting,” Catarina said with a smile. “But I still have to agree with these three here, Satan, that was stupid in so many ways.”  
“You mentioned before that to ‘Declare war’ are words which declare that a war has begun right! Why did you do such a thing?!” Adramelech, the most surprised one, said. “As long as we launch an ambush, we can create many situations where we would have an upper hand, why are you specially increasing the guard of the other party!”  
Satan sighed. “I would normally think that way too.”  
“Even though you probably have your reasons, you should still change that habit where you just do something without telling any of us.”  
“Yes. I only recently found out ’bout this from Lucifer,” Catarina said, staring at her boyfriend with crossed arms, making him look at the floor shamefully.  
“But even if I say it, all of you would definitely object,” Satan protested.  
“With good reason.”  
“Of course,” Camio bluntly added. “But giving those other than yourself a chance to ‘object’ is an important thing. It’s still fine if it’s us, but you might have to personally command demons besides us in the future. In that situation, who knows who would object, and the reality that ‘a discussion was conducted’ needs to be created, even if there was ‘a successful outcome’ afterwards like you said, dissatisfaction will still accumulate. That would be what you call ‘bad victory’. Who can guarantee that the parties whom you would command in the future will be as forgiving to you as us?”  
“That…sorry.” Camio’s clear rebuke caused Satan show a rare moment of speechlessness.  
“When the group grows, the troublesome things will increase. This is what you said before. Aren’t you aware of this yourself?”  
“Yes, sorry.”  
This time, Camio was undeniably correct, he had acted wrongly. So Satan honestly lowered his head and reflected.  
“Then, can I ask you to explain why you did this stupid thing? Including your true intentions.”  
Catarina sighed. “Such a pain.”  
“My true intentions?”  
“Yeah.”  
Camio looked at Adramelech and Lucifer who were emitting dangerous atmospheres, while Catarina looked like she wanted to get on with it so she could start training for the oncoming battle. “Lucifer, Catarina, Lord Adramelech and I, originally would not be able to peacefully gather together at all. But since you already did such a thing, then obviously…”  
“Eh?”  
“Could it be?”  
“Finally we’re getting somewhere,” Catarina said, putting her hands in her pockets and moving around from the balls of her feet to her toes.  
When Camio said this, the remaining three demons seemed to realise it.  
“You are also definitely planning to recruit Alciel here, right. Rather than declaring war, it’s more like you went to meet with him right. You idiotic brat.”  
“Ah!”  
“How is that possible…?”  
“Oh.”  
Satan sighed. “...It is like that, yeah.”  
“It’s about time you told this old man. Gathering these demons, what do you want to do?”  
“What do I want to do huh…?”  
“Yeah, I’m very bothered by this as well,” Adramelech added on in agreement. “Satan, when you fought with me, you asked what I thought about the future. What you are doing now, even though you are using methods which did not match the common sense of the demon realm, but it looks like you are increasing the comrades from different clans. However doing just that, in the long term it does not appear any different from what I was doing before. You, who even wants to pull in Alciel and the Iron Scorpions, what is your true purpose?”  
“…That’s right. Because I recently have been doing similar things, I’m starting to feel a little tired of this ‘game’,” Lucifer added.  
“Really?” Catarina asked with arched eyebrows.  
He shrugged at his girlfriend. “Know you think this is fun and all, Cat. But I still don’t entirely get what he wants with us.”  
She smiled at him. “Well I’ve got a pretty good idea. And it’s all right.”  
He sighed. “If you say so.”  
Satan politely let the couple finish their conversation and then went on to say, “…All of you can’t laugh okay.” Satan should also be thinking this, so he planned to be honest about his true purpose.  
“And, I want to confirm something before I say it. The current us, what kind of group are we?”  
““““Hm?””””  
Satan’s question caused the others to look at one another.  
“Camio’s right, I do want to have Alciel join us. As well as the Iron Scorpions who he’s leading. And I actually have plans for victory. Then assuming that that guy joins us, what group will we be at that time?”  
“What group?”  
“Let me make it simpler. Assuming the Iron Scorpions launch a huge attack right now, we also band together to resist the enemy together, at that time, which clan are we considered as?”  
“Even though…I really want to say Ashen Horn clan…” Adramelech put in.  
“I know one term which can describe this group. Once I say this term, I think all of you will know I want to make Alciel join us using such a reckless method. But…” Satan suddenly became very ambiguous, and looked at the four of them in an unsure manner. “The instant I say this term, all of you might become my enemy. Which is why I have kept it a secret from all of you until now.”  
Everyone thought and then they suddenly realised it.  
““““Demon King Army,”””” they said in union.  
“…Hey!” The term the quartet said directly caused Satan to become flustered. Because that was what Satan hid deep within in heart, and can be said to be a highly secretive term.  
After a while, Adramelech spoke, “Isn’t that good? You becoming ‘King’.”  
“Eh?”  
“That’s right; I also feel that this is good.”  
Adramelech, Lucifer and Catarina had elected Satan to be the ‘king’ of their group but it was Satan who said frantically, “B-but……are all of you, alright with it?”  
“’Course. Since I had a feeling that that was your true intention for quite a while now,” Catarina said with a smile.  
“This is nothing different from how it is so far. We only gave a clear name to your place in the group,” Adramelech said nonchalantly.  
“You command us, we act. But as long as we feel dissatisfied, or feel that the stakes are inconsistent, we will leave you. We have agreed on this in the beginning right. Whether you call yourself ‘king’ or not, there’s not much difference.”  
“Those vagrant demons still want a clear ‘leader’ after all. But because they vary so much in terms of appearance and power, wouldn’t having a ‘king’ make things easy to understand?” Lucifer also spoke in a relaxed way like usual.  
“The ‘king’ Lord Adramelech just mentioned, is not a magic spell which would make the one known as the ruler become good at everything. The term ‘king’ is used to describe a ‘mechanism’ which should be used within a group. Satan, can you become a ‘king’ who can surpass this level of ‘mechanism’…” Lastly, the aged Demon Bird General, from a position a full head taller than the one who will become ‘king’, said this in a dominant manner.  
Just like what he did when he just met that young demon in the past.  
“From now on, you have to depend on your own personal performance.”


	8. Battle

When they knew that the huge troops of Iron Scorpions were approaching the mountain land next to the lake where Satan and the others were based, it was already ten days after they had that conversation.  
Considering the distance between the mountain where the Iron Scorpions based themselves and here, Alciel should have deployed his troops on the day Satan went there to declare war.  
According to the scouting reports, the total number of the Iron Scorpions was fifty thousand. Soon after the battle began. During the battle, Alciel gave his troops all sorts of commands, but strangely enough there was no sign of Lucifer and Camio, as well as that man called Satan. After a while, there was a sudden aerial attack that managed to take down a fair amount of the Iron Scorpions. And then even more surprising news: the report of Adramelech’s troops retreating was received from the vanguard troops.  
Night had fallen and even though demons didn’t need to eat, the Iron Scorpions biologically still needed to sleep and took turns in doing so.  
“Alright.” A small shadow watched those torches from afar with a smile. “It’s about time to start, and, because I dislike troublesome things, so what Satan instructed…yeah, I leave it to you to handle.”  
“…Yes.”  
Lucifer gave instructions to a former vagrant demon next to him, and the suddenly appointed demon nodded with an expression of surprise.  
“Then, it should be about time.”  
After saying this, purple beams exploded in the night time wastelands.  
The countless heat rays wrecked havoc in the Iron Scorpions’ camp.  
“Go!” Then Lucifer ordered the group of demons following behind him to launch surprise attacks.  
The waves of noises of alertness quickly spread around the Iron Scorpions’ camp, but Lucifer chose to ignore this and left directly. By the time the Iron Scorpions warriors woke up because they discovered the attack, the attackers would have all moved to another place. Implemented by a small number of elites, this was a night attack which was extremely normal in the human world. The purpose was not to defeat the enemy soldiers, but to cause the enemies to feel shaken and worsen their fatigue.  
“Ha, hahaha! No matter how I fight and hit, it’s too fun!” As Lucifer let out sounds of joy, he ran wildly through the Iron Scorpions’ camp which was lit up by torches at night. “What is it, what is it?! You can’t see at night, you poisonous bugs whose only strength is being hard!” Lucifer’s heat rays easily pierced through the metal skin of the Iron Scorpions. Forget about inflicting uneasiness, smashing through the enemies, Lucifer might be able to annihilate one or two troops by himself. But the enemies were the Iron Scorpions, not a normal small clan. “Hm?” Lucifer, ignoring Satan’s instructions, taking action on his own accord and carrying out a massacre at night in a carefree manner, suddenly felt that his movements have slowed down. “What’s going on…?” Even though Lucifer planned to leave the night ambush because he felt danger, his wings could not generate enough propelling force.  
“You will stop now, vagrant demon of the wastelands,” came a voice from behind him.  
“Wha...guh!” Lucifer was sent flying by a powerful impact. Even though it was just a simple impact, it could not be dampened with his wings or demonic magic. Sent flying, Lucifer hit the nearby ground, but the shocks did not end here.  
Even if he hit the ground, Lucifer’s body was still dragged along the ground like he was being pressed against a grater. “Ugh…this–this is…” Lucifer kept trying to resist by extending his wings, but the mysterious power controlling his body did not weaken at all.  
“Damn!” Just as Lucifer was busy resisting, he realized that a rock resembling a sharp tooth was approaching this place, Lucifer gave up on resisting that force, and like what Satan did in the past, he shot up countless demonic magic orbs through the force of his own will. He did not specially aim, and did not care if there were comrades still around him, and directly started shooting heat rays in all directions.  
“Uwah!”  
Before being pierced by the sharp rock, Lucifer who felt the power restricting his body frantically escaped to the sky.  
“How close…which guy did that.”  
In order to avoid being restricted by the same power, after Lucifer rose rapidly, he extended his wings, turned around and looked down at the ground.  
Among the camp which was made a mess by his own night ambush attack, he discovered demonic magic with an especially high presence. It was Alciel, the clan leader.  
He sighed. “I knew that only you would have this capability.”  
“This is the first time we met like this right, vagrant demon of the wastelands.”  
“You came out quickly, could it be that for you guys, even the boss had to do night sentry as well?”  
“Do you think we would be stupid enough not to guard against a night attack? Only you were not seen during the day. So it was best that I stay wary as well.”  
“I see; looks like it was your prediction that was a notch above?”  
“I can kill you right now, you know?”  
Lucifer gave a logical answer, “It would be better for you not to do it. Even if you might be able to win against us, it would be impossible for you to walk away from it unscathed. Like this, Adramelech and the others, who would know you are injured because my comrades sprung this night ambush with me, might just attack in one go.”  
“…Go back and report to your leader, we are not so weak as to become tired from these small acts. We will viciously attack all at once tomorrow to wipe all of you out. Do not think that only your side knows how to scout.”  
“Yeah, I will help to convey it.” Lucifer showed an underhanded smile like he was planning to play around with his opponent. “But I cannot guarantee that our boss will follow your plans.”  
Then he disappeared into the night’s sky.

Lucifer flew over to Satan and everyone else to tell them about Alciel. Satan disapproved of what had happened and told Lucifer so. Catarina was so mad that someone had had the intention of killing her boyfriend that she almost went on a killing spree; luckily the others were able to dissuade her. Afterwards two Iron Scorpions were brought forward, which was odd since enemy forces were meant to be killed, not captured.  
“So you’ve brought them forward. Nice; so information?” Catarina asked with a gleam in her eyes, still feeling like killing or hurting someone.  
Satan shook his head. “Not like that. We need them unharmed.”  
She looked at Satan annoyed, but stood down.  
“Ugh…”  
“W-what do all of you plan to do?!”  
The Iron Scorpion captives, Illusium and Xichgan, looked at the others with confusion.  
“Let’s start from introductions. My name is Satan. I am the leader of the army currently fighting with all of you.”  
““!””  
The gazes of the two Iron Scorpions showed surprise, but in the next instant, the two of them were faced with an even more shocking encounter.  
“I’m sorry, being so rough to both of you. I will loosen your bindings now. Stand up.”  
They were freed of all their bindings and the real thing keeping them in place now were the Ashen Horns pointing their spears towards them. The female fallen angel also seemed like she wouldn’t hesitate to attack if the need arose.  
“Don’t worry. As long as both of you do not step out of line, I will not kill you. I only have a few questions to ask you. As long as both of you answer honestly, other than immediately releasing both of you back to the Iron Scorpion camp, I will fulfill any other requests you have. How about it, sounds rather good right?”  
““…?””  
“Talking about the possibilities of both of you dying later on, it would only be trying to harm us, or escaping back to the Iron Scorpion base. Other than that, both of you can do anything you want. Oh yes, why don’t I; as the leader, personally introduce the newest group in the Demon World to both of you. How about it, want to come along?”  
And so the pair was shown around the base and explained to them how his army had come to be. Eventually he also stated that he wanted the Iron Scorpions to join. The pair was confused by it, but Satan explained further that it was thanks to Camio that he had gotten that far in the first place. They reached a door and on the other side the guests saw that demons were sparring – most confusing of all, not killing each other. Satan called over a goblin, Belasha, and told him to add their names to the 15th guerrilla troops. After discussing it further with his king, he agreed. Once they had said their goodbyes, the group continued the tour. The next stop was an equipment making facility. There Satan ordered someone to make them armour, since their previous armour had been destroyed by Lucifer. The last place was a big hall where already a few demons were present. Ashen Horn leader Adramelech, the strongest vagrant demon Lucifer, his girlfriend and the second strongest Catarina and Camio, whom even Alciel respectfully called the Demon Bird General and was wary of.  
“Even though I think both of you should know them, but from this demon in order, this is Adramelech, Lucifer, Catarina and Camio. They are the core members of the ‘Demon King Army’ I lead. With what you saw so far, I think both of you should understand, the purpose of the ‘Demon King Army’, is not to annihilate opposing clans, but the unification of the demon realm.”  
In front of these great demons, Illusium and Xichgan did not dare to move. But Satan’s words did reach their ears.  
“Even though it is difficult for both of you to believe right now, but I plan to have you Iron Scorpions and your leader Alciel join us. But Alciel is not the type who will obediently join with just an invitation. So I have been thinking how to make all of you join us. The final conclusion would be that I have to win all of you and Alciel.” Satan said heavily, “Next I am going to order both of you to betray for the time being. Tell us everything you know about Alciel’s battle plans. But, I promise both of you. I will definitely not have both of you remain traitors. I will definitely integrate the three people here, Alciel and all of you under my command.”  
““……”” Illusium and Xichgan could not help but look at each other.  
“Then, I’m going to start asking.”  
In a compliant manner, the two Iron Scorpions waited for what Satan was going to say next.


	9. “Let them go”

The next day the battle continued. Much to Alciel’s surprise it seemed like the enemy was seeing through his strategy and later news also made him speechless: the Ashen Horn stone city had been taken back. Alciel went into the sky to look at the ongoing battle, after noticing that Camio was nowhere to be seen and they were at a severe disadvantage, he considered retreating. After thinking it through he decided it would be the best course of action and prepared to go to the ground to issue the order. But before he moved, he noticed something strange behind him: an army of soldiers – of all different clans – moving together. An army of almost ten thousand. Ten thousand soldiers were added to Satan’s army, and chose to appear behind the Iron Scorpion army, causing Alciel to momentarily feel despair. He had never faced this kind of situation before. No, rather than that, none of the demons in the Demon World have faced this before. The Iron Scorpions still had an advantage in terms of total numbers. As long as sacrifices were willing to be made, retreat should be possible. But after retreating, the power of the Iron Scorpions will be greatly reduced. The mysterious man who organized a terrifying mixed army, Satan. He and his clan members might be forced to live a life of fearing the figure of that man while being hunted by other clans. Right now, whether they advanced or retreated, only Hell would be waiting for them. Even so. “As an Iron Scorpion warrior, we can only kill as many as we can!”

“Adramelech! That guy is coming!”  
Adramelech blasted away the Iron Scorpion warriors around him with one attack of his magic spear then looked in the direction which Lucifer pointed towards.  
Just as the strike force led by Adramelech and Lucifer were defeating the Iron Scorpions like they were breaking through a bamboo forest and were about to penetrate into the main camp of the enemy.  
“Is he coming? Iron Scorpion leader!”  
_Would be fun if Cat were here with us. Unfortunately she has to fight somewhere else and she’s probably enjoying it there._ “Even though he doesn't look like he is giving up, it would be troublesome if he gets serious!”  
“I know that! Hmph!” Adramelech faced Alciel who was flying in this direction and placed his magic spear upright on the ground of the battle with a smile. The tip and axe portion of the magic spear were dyed in the blood of the warriors on the blood covered battlefield. “Fuuuuuu……Alciel, protecting my body is the life which had flowed within your warrior’s bodies!” The ice armour which covered Adramelech’s whole body as he raised his spear once more was made from fresh blood.  
“Back down!”  
The instant Adramelech, wearing an armour not made from magic ice but blood, used his spear had impacted violently with Alciel’s iron fist as he flew here with high speed.  
“Owahh!” Just this impact, was enough to send Lucifer flying far away even though he should have guarded against it.  
A meteor crater like hole appeared in the ground around Adramelech’s feet, and Adramelech himself also knelt on the ground because he could not absorb this force.  
“Iron Scorpion warriors!” Alciel, who overpowered Adramelech’s burly body and strong armpower based on power alone, shouted in a clear voice which could be heard on the whole battlefield, “If we do not overcome this, the Iron Scorpions will have no future! Follow me, Alciel! The target is the enemy leader!”  
_Maybe Cat will get the chance to face him_ , Lucifer though with a wry smile.  
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” From various areas of the battlefield, the roars of the Iron Scorpion warriors who were in a disadvantageous position could be heard.  
“Eh, the atmosphere feels different?” Lucifer, who steadied himself after being blasted backwards, discovered that the Iron Scorpions had ignited their fighting spirit once more.  
“Uh! Since that guy came here, that means Camio came from behind right? Why did it become like this?”  
“…This signifies…how much they trust this guy!” Adramelech answered.  
In order to dissipate Alciel’s power, he jumped backwards to increase the distance between them.  
“Alciel, the strongest warrior, personally came to the front-line to lead the warriors. Just like what we did just now. Just doing that would raise morale.”  
“…How simple. But it’s troublesome because it’s simple. What is that?” What Lucifer saw, was the moment Alciel spread his arms wide as the distance between him and Adramelech increased after the initial clash.  
“Hm? That is!” Adramelech also noticed it. Countless boulders from the battlefield floated up from behind Alciel.  
That was the psychic cannonballs which defeated many Ashen Horn warriors ten years ago.  
“Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?”  
The countless boulders which flew over fell down continuously.  
“Ugh! This continuous attack! How do we handle this?!” Adramelech started to swing his magic spear to shatter the boulders flying over.  
“H-how would I know?! There are so many uwah, it hurts!” Lucifer was also overpowered by the numbers, and his wings were continuously hit by the flying boulders. Damn, if only she were here. _She could incinerate them with a clear mind._  
The secret behind the non-stop psychic cannonballs; would be letting the casters take turns to execute the cannon attacks, a series of wave attacks.  
The psychic cannonballs using the group power of the Iron Scorpions, suddenly forced Adramelech and Lucifer to go into a defensive mode, of course, Alciel did not overlook this opportunity.  
“Adramelech, Lucifer, even though you’re not the ones I’m looking for, I will still accept your heads first.” After saying this, Alciel emitted invisible telekinesis from his hands, and easily grabbed Adramelech and Lucifer who were already fully occupied just from evading the boulders.  
“Ugoh? T-this is…” Adramelech shouted in surprise because he felt his body suddenly become heavier.  
“Ah, damn it! What is this! It can’t be seen, isn’t that too underhanded!” Even though he was not ambushed like during the night attack, not knowing if his attention was attracted by the psychic cannonballs, or Alciel’s technique was too exquisite, Lucifer was also grabbed by Alciel’s power.  
“Magic ice armour? Purple heat rays? Just depending on that pure power and not knowing how to polish battle techniques, both of you are not a match for us Iron Scorpions!”  
“Hm! Ugh! Ugoh! Uwahh!”  
“Wah, damn it! Bastard! It hurts! Owww!”  
Alciel used demonic magic which could not be matched by a normal Iron Scorpion, used all his skill to seal Adramelech’s and Lucifer’s movements. And at this moment, there were still many psychic cannonballs which were aimed at Adramelech and Lucifer. The psychic cannonballs started to mercilessly hit the both of them whose movements suddenly became dull. Of course, Adramelech and Lucifer would not be sliced up just like that. However, the one exerting telekinesis on them right now was Alciel, and the Iron Scorpion warriors were still first rate warriors even though they did not match up to Alciel.  
“Ugh!”  
“Damn it! Gwahh!”  
Even though Adramelech tried to barely avoid the attacks with his dull movements, the quantity of the psychic cannonballs was simply too much, continuously withstanding the surprisingly powerful cannonballs caused cracks to slowly appear in the blood ice armour.  
“Mages! Come and help! Anyone will do, first completely seal one of their movements!”  
“Ah, yes!”  
“Lucifer!”  
The judgement of the Iron Scorpion mages led by Alciel was correct.  
Lucifer, who was able to interfere with the magic casting through long range attacks, was the biggest obstacle at the scene. The Iron Scorpion mages who helped Alciel block the attack just now used telekinesis magic simultaneously on Lucifer, beautifully sealing his movements.  
“D-damn it! Y-you bunch of small fry!” Lucifer tried to escape with all his might until the veins in his forehead started to bulge, but he was unable to free himself from even just Alciel’s power alone.  
“Kill him!”  
Suddenly there was a lethal female chuckle behind Alciel along with the words, “Funny, thought you were supposed to be one of the smarter ones.”  
The casters stared on in shock as their leader was being held by a female fallen angel by his hair with a sword against his neck, deadly intent in her eyes.  
Alciel struggled to get free from her, and she let out that same chuckle again. “Tut, tut. You really want to get killed, don’t cha? I mean, sure trying to escape me is one thing, but threatening my Lucifer’s life is one thing that no one,” she whispered in his ear, “no one, is allowed to do.”  
Alciel growled. “Catarina.”  
She grinned at him. “Oh, you know who I am. That’s good. Then we can get onto the important stuff. Let. Them. Go. Or else, you know, you’ll die,” she said, Predator lethally against the Iron Scorpion leader’s neck.  
“You will be dead soon after if you think you can kill me.”  
She shrugged. “Then at least my last kill will be a good one. ‘Cause you know,” her grin turned truly wicked, “I have plans for your body that could even make some demons puke up their last meal.”  
Alciel looked from the female fallen angel to the demons he had just ordered to be killed moments earlier and said, “Halt your attacks and let them go.”  
The casters did as they were ordered.  
“Now there’s a good boy.”  
The cutting off of the demonic magic flowing between the casters and Lucifer and Adramelech caused a backlash onto the casters.  
“Yeurgh!”  
“Ugah!”  
All the casters surrounding Alciel could not withstand the impact, and were blown backwards just like that.  
“Guh!”  
Alciel’s body also swayed greatly because his telekinesis magic had been cut. Catarina removed her sword from her target’s neck and saw that it had started bleeding. _Satan’s not gonna like this._ She saw that a demon had arrived with two horns, an ice sword, and huge hoofs which stood firmly on the ground.  
She smiled at him. “Satan. You sure took your sweet time.”  
“You did just disappear without saying anything. And I presumed you had it handled.”  
Her grin remained as she said, “Course. And I did say that I needed to take care of something. That’s something, isn’t it?”  
He sighed. Then looked at the demon who was still being held by his hair. He noticed blood trickling from his neck. “Catarina, what did you do?” he asked in a commanding voice.  
“What needed to be done. He was planning on killing those two,” she indicated Lucifer and Adramelech with her sword; “so I decided to step in and save them.”  
_At least she’s willing to protect us_ , Satan thought exasperated.  
“…You finally appeared, Satan…” Alciel said, freeing himself from the female fallen angel.  
“You also appeared after delaying for quite a while, Alciel. Hey, Lucifer, Catarina, Adramelech. Follow the plan and retreat with the army.”  
“Annoying!”  
Satan gave the order to Lucifer behind him, but Lucifer who was freed from the telekinesis was burning with anger.  
“Actually looking down on me! I’m not going to let this drop like this!”  
_Now he’s also out for blood. Damn, I really do love him_ , Catarina thought with an affectionate smile. “You want me to leave with them?”  
“Yes.”  
“…Lucifer, back down,” Adramelech said.  
“Stop joking, Adramelech! Already being looked down upon, how can we retreat so easily…?”  
“Hey, Lucifer.” Satan turned back at Lucifer who was about to attack the Iron Scorpions around him with an annoyed expression on his face. “Your carelessness was to blame. If Catarina hadn’t arrived when she had, you would have already lost to Alciel. Admit it.”  
Lucifer looked at his girlfriend, who had started looking at the floor because of her involvement in the conversation. He scowled. _True. But having to be saved by her. I’m the one who wants to protect her. I hate that it’s the other way round_ , he thought, even if he had been filled with pride moments earlier because of the way his girlfriend had handled things. “What did you say?!”  
“This guy must be unhappy about the results as well, so if you want to fight with him again, there will be opportunities in the future. But leave it to me first, just back down.”  
“…………!”  
Catarina could see that her boyfriend wasn’t likely to listen to Satan considering what had happened moments earlier. She knew that even though they would both happily see the Iron Scorpion leader dead, this wasn’t the place or time. It would have to wait. If they ever got the chance. At least he had a scar to remember it by. “Lucifer, calm down,” she said softly.  
“But Cat, he...!”  
“I know. But not now.”  
“Fine,” he said, and pulled back his killing aura.  
“You want your army to retreat?” Alciel asked.  
“Oh, that’s right, that’s right, I’m sorry, Alciel. It’s rare for you to personally come to the frontlines. I came today to discuss a proposal with you. Let’s have a one-on-one match with me next.”  
“………………What did you say?”  
_So Satan gets to fight him and we don’t._  
“Let me think, if you win, you can kill me, and my army can be handled by you in any way at the same time. But, if I win…” Satan pointed his ice blade at Alciel, and declared loudly. “Iron Scorpion leader Alciel. You and all the Iron Scorpion warriors; will be absorbed by me.”  
There’ll be a lot of death by us if Satan loses then, Catarina though indifferently.  
Satan’s proposal; was simply unbelievable to Alciel. A one-on-one match between the generals. And the victor will instantly become the leader of all of the demons present? This overly ridiculous proposal; caused Alciel to be unable to make a decision even after a long time. What is that guy saying? was Alciel’s only thought.  
“Honestly speaking, we have already won this battle. But as long as you put up a tough resistance, you would be able to bring the Iron Scorpions and escape this battlefield by making huge sacrifices. You appeared here because you thought this way. Am I right?”  
After talking for longer Alciel said, “Alright, I will accept your proposal, and fight one-on-one with you.”  
“Oh!”  
“But,” Alciel glared at Satan who showed some signs of joy, “I am Alciel! The proud leader of the Iron Scorpions! My rule requires no aid from other demons! When I win, no matter how much time it would take, I would destroy everything you have left behind!”  
Like we’ll give him the chance, Catarina thought with a small deadly smile, while looking at him with a menacing look in her eyes.  
Satan and Alciel increased their demonic magic in one go, and the attention of all the warriors on the battlefield focused on the both of them. Luckily Alciel’s neck injury did not slow him down. And after a long and gruelling battle Alciel lost.


	10. Parting of the ways

Not long had passed since Alciel had joined the Demon King Army and Catarina and Lucifer still hated the fact. At the moment they were talking about it.  
“I think I’m gonna go, Cat. I’m sorry. But I hate being near him like that.”  
“I know.”  
He looked towards the ground. “You could stay here if you want, you know. Since you clearly like spending time with Satan.”  
She blinked, confused. “Yeah. So what? I love spending time with you.”  
“Huh?”  
She neared his face and looked at him with an easy, loving smile. “Doesn’t being your girlfriend mean that I’m loyal to you and you alone?”  
“Yeah. But...friends. He’s your friend, right?”  
She shrugged. “I left him behind, doesn’t mean that he stopped meaning the world to me. Not saying that I feel the same about Satan, but you understand, right.”  
“Yeah,” he said with a relieved smile.  
“And if you think I’d let you leave me behind with Alciel, you’re oh so very wrong, Lucifer.”  
He stroked her head. “Yeah. That would’ve been strange. Would’ve been difficult to let him live.”  
She chuckled. “Got that right.”  
His held onto her braid and played with it loosely. “Yeah. If you were to kill him, I’d like to see that with my own eyes.”  
“And I’d want you to see it.”

So the next day the couple decided to leave, but Lucifer wouldn’t without a bang. His purple heat rays cut across the red land horizontally and vertically.  
Then he shot out the heat rays which had torn through the ground from his fingertips once again.  
The heat rays cut open the surface of the land, and it did not burn or melt, it was vaporised immediately, from this it could be understood how much energy had been concentrated into these heat rays.  
Catarina was silently watching beside him, knowing that arguing against it would be useless. He needed something to let off steam after everything that had happened before. And she couldn’t deny that seeing him wreaking things like that was pretty great.  
“Hey, waitt!!”  
Next, a second and third huge figures flew out, chasing after them.  
“What is wrong with you, doing this so suddenly!”  
Rather than a scolding, it was more like an anxious concern.  
“Nothing much. I said so already right. We’re leaving.”  
“L-leaving? Stop joking...”  
“It's not a joke. This is the result after we talked about it.”  
“T-talked?!”  
The figure who appeared later pointed at the land in front of them.  
“How can it turn out like this after talking?!”  
“The conclusion after thinking deeply about it, was that because I had nothing important I wanted to do, I was given orders by you for a rather long time, so I was venting a little.”  
This resulted in a small smile from Catarina as she looked at him.  
“You should consider the methods as well! Many demons could have died because of this...”  
“So what?”  
“Yeah. Really Satan. They’ve been dying for centuries now.”  
Two cold voices overpowered the anxious voice.  
“Why must my methods have to consider the lives of others that aren’t Cat?”  
“You...”  
“Hey, Satan.”  
The very first figure turned towards the figure who chased after him, and asked expressionlessly.  
“At the beginning, what you said to me at the very very beginning, you didn't forget it right."  
“Very very beginning...? Don't tell me, Lucifer, you...”  
The huge figure known as Satan was badly shaken, and as if he was dealt a staggering blow, he weakly reached out for the figure known as Lucifer.  
Lucifer only looked towards the hand which looked like it was going to grab someone, and nodded slightly.  
“That's right. We agreed on this at the beginning. We’re not enjoying it as much now, so we’re leaving.”  
“W-wait a moment! Even if you say that you're not enjoying it, this is too sudden!”  
“Too sudden?” Lucifer's expression immediately became rather dissatisfied. “Even though this is the result after I talked seriously to Catarina about it?” After saying this, Lucifer turned towards the crumbling mountain and spat at it. “Thinking about it, ever since the attack on the camp of the Ashen Horns, I already felt unhappy about it. But before the group of Iron Scorpions came, I could still accept it. However, didn't I say it a lot of times, we definitely cannot work together with Alciel!”  
“I also explained it a lot of times! He is needed for our goal... ”  
“That's it!”  
“Huh?!”  
Lucifer sharply cut off Satan's explanation.  
“It's not 'our' goal right? It's 'your' goal isn't it?”  
“......!" Satan inhaled sharply.  
“I am only your playmate and Cat kinda your comrade. But we’re not necessarily interested in the Demon King Army or the unification of the demon realm. That old geezer Camio and Adramelech are simple minded, and seem to be affected by your feelings, but don't expect me to turn out like them. However, you placed unnecessary shackles on me, this was different from what was agreed upon. So I'm backing out. I have no other special reasons or malicious thoughts."  
“Lu-Lucifer...”  
“In other words, if we meet up in the future, you and I are just enemies who will kill each other just like how it should be.”  
The look in Catarina’s eyes pained slightly. “Lucifer,” she said in a small voice.  
Satan finally understood the full meaning of the word merciless.  
Lucifer did not listen to Satan's words at all, left behind the mountain which was wrecked by the especially large heat rays he produced, did not even give Satan a chance to stop him, and flew along with Catarina towards the sky on the other side.  
Satan watched the small figures disappear into the sky, completely stunned, and was unable to move for a long time.

“Are you serious about potentially killing him?” Catarina asked once they were out of earshot.  
He stopped in the sky. “Yeah. Why not?”  
She stopped next to him and shrugged. “No reason. Just that then the demon realm will change to how it used to be again.”  
He raised his eyebrows. “You saying that’s a bad thing, Cat?”  
“No. I’m not, Lucifer. He’s changing the demon realm to become more peaceful and killing peaceful demons would be a pain. His other plan seems interesting, yeah. But what about after that? He never told any of us his true, full intentions.”  
He grinned darkly. “So in the end, you never truly trusted him.”  
She smiled playfully. “You know it takes a lot to get me to trust people.”  
“You seemed pretty cool with trusting me, Cat.”  
“’Cause I knew what you were like. Believe me, it took much longer than you’d think. That’s one of the reasons I spent so much time with you.”  
There was a mix of confusion and hurt on his face, though he knew that it was silly. He pretty much was the same. “That’s the reason.”  
“The main was that I loved spending time with you, so I just wanted to be sure. But back on topic, if you ever do run into him again, be careful. He’s becoming the demon king for a reason.”  
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t have to remind me, Cat. I’ll be careful,” he said in a bored voice.  
She sighed. “You say that, but still...” She stroked his purple hair and held her forehead against his. “...I just don’t want you to get injured or die, Lucifer.”  
“I know. And I won’t. That’s a promise.”  
A small smile spread across her lips. “Great thing to promise.”  
He gave her a peck on her lips. “’Course.”


	11. Confrontation

Eventually after who knew how long, Lucifer and Satan met up again. And like Lucifer had stated, he was going in for the kill. Within seconds the two demons were fighting without holding back. Everyone Satan had managed to make part of his alliance was watching on in anticipation, Catarina the only one wanting Lucifer to win.  
She watched on and it became clear that Satan had become stronger. She believed in Lucifer and his strength with all her heart, but she still feared for him. He had promised her, meaning that he absolutely meant that he would do anything possible to win this, but she guessed they hadn’t taken into account how strong Satan would become.  
Catarina looked beside her at the old bird also watching the battle intensely. “You’re actually okay with this?”  
He hadn’t expected her to ask him any kind of question, so he had remained silent for a moment, processing that the question was actually directed at him. “It was said, wasn’t it?”  
“Yeah. But what if Lucifer manages to kill Satan? Will you be alright like that?”  
Camio looked away. “I would hate it, but I was told not to interfere. This is a battle between the two of them.”  
Just as Camio said those words, Satan shot fire at his opponent. Catarina’s eyes widened in shock as she tried to teleport towards her boyfriend. She was stopped by the long wing of the demon standing next to her. “Catarina, don’t.”  
There were already tears in her eyes. “But he couldn’t use fire before. It’s not fair. How dare he use my kind of magic against my boyfriend.”  
“That is a strange thing to say. You would say that life isn’t fair and shrug it off.”  
She shivered for a moment at the accuracy of those words. “That’s beside the point. He-he doesn’t deserve it. I don’t know everything of what happened to him, but he’s gone through enough. It’s alright if life’s unfair towards me or others, but not him.”  
“Catarina, you are being extremely biased.”  
“Call it what you want, old bird, it’s the truth.”  
Camio sighed and shook his head. “I you say so.”  
So the battle continued. Each time Lucifer got injured in any way, Catarina had to stop herself with all her power not to step in. Something that she hadn’t noticed, however, was that the more the battle went on, the more Camio started looking at her sympathetically. He was an old demon bird, sure, but he still cared about his fellow clan members, just like how this fallen angel cared about her boyfriend.  
In the end Satan became the victor. Luckily he wasn’t so keen on killing Lucifer as he had been, but instead rubbed his head. Though Lucifer was clearly annoyed by the gesture. So not a second later there was a hand holding onto his arm, heating it up slightly. “Don’t,” said a rough female voice. “It’s already bad enough that you beat him, don’t patronise him like that.”  
Satan grimaced. “Yeah. Can you also not burn me?”  
She tightened her grip, but cooled down her hand. Seconds later she let go. “Sure. Just don’t hurt him again unless you want to get hurt.”  
“It was his idea.”  
“Yeah. And I agreed to it because I had a feeling he’d win. Apparently I was wrong. But that’s beside the point. We’ll join you’re little army again. Meaning that from now on you have absolutely no reason to hurt him. Got it?”  
Satan felt like sighing, but thought better of it considering the killing intent she was giving off. “Yeah. I’ve got it. So what now?”  
She smiled cruelly. “Guess it all depends on what you want to do now, _King_ Satan.”  
“I’ll think about it.” He started flying away. “Go back home now. I’ll call you all together later.”  
The Demon King Army bowed and said their farewells.


	12. Wall of fire

Satan also recruited Malacoda and his Malebranche. After that it didn’t take long to unite the whole demon realm. As decades passed Satan noticed that the demonic magic in the demon realm was slowly disappearing – since it came from negative emotions and the peace had lessened them. So Satan decided it was time to conquer Ente Isla. He named Lucifer, Adramelech, Alciel and Malacoda his Great Demon Generals and Catarina, who had come to respect him more since the fight, his bodyguard – even though it was more honorary than anything; it still irritated Lucifer at the beginning. They managed to invade the planet, but eventually the humans started resisting under the guide of the Hero Emilia Justina. Lucifer had been sent to the west and just now a messenger was arriving with news about the Western Island.  
He came in hurriedly through the humongous doors that lead to the throne room. “King Satan, I have news.”  
“What is it?”  
“It is about the army that has been sent to Western Island, my lord.”  
This caught Catarina’s, who had been looking around the castle room absentmindedly; attention and she looked intensely at the messenger.  
Her red eyes unnerved the messenger but he continued bowing and said, “The humans have started fighting back with the help of one Hero Emilia. She took down all of our forces on the Western Island and ...”  
“And?” Satan insisted.  
“...she took down General Lucifer. It is said that he died by her blade.”  
Flames shot up around the messenger as Catarina said, “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t lie.” She saw that he was having trouble breathing, so she let down the front wall.  
Now he was shaking as he said, “I am telling the truth, Lady Catarina. Most of the invasion forces on the Western Island have been killed and Lord Lucifer is nowhere to be found.”  
The glare she fixed him with made him want to run away, made impossible because of his fire prison and the fact that she was now standing centimetres from him with her sword drawn. “That doesn’t mean he’s dead. He can just as well be injured. Unless you found an actual body, don’t go spouting this nonsense.”  
“But-but injured could mean-” She cut him off before he could finish his sentence. “How weak do you think we are?” she snarled. “That you dare even think that a mere human could kill us. You disgusting demon.” She pointed Predator at him. “Maybe I’ll show you which wounds will kill and which ones won’t.” She cocked her head at him with a wicked smile. “Huh? What’d ya say?”  
“Catarina, that’s enough,” Satan said in a commanding voice.  
Catarina scowled, having pretty much forgotten about her king sitting behind her. “Fine,” she said and let down her prison of fire.  
Then the messenger bowed and hurriedly ran away, making Satan sigh because of his bodyguard.


	13. Enter the Hero

The Hero Emilia arrived with her friends at the Devil’s Castle months later. Alciel had also come to the castle to protect his king and now it was a three on four battle. At some point Catarina had made it close enough to the Hero’s ear to whisper, “So you’re the famous Hero?”  
“Yes. What about it?”  
“Nothing. I’m just gonna have a fun time skinning you,” Catarina sang with a menacing smile.  
This freaked Emilia out for a second but she soon composed herself again and it could be seen that the demons were in no position near victory. Satan beckoned his subordinates towards him and they fled through a Gate that Satan had created.  
They landed on a hard ground that was clearly not natural.  
“You serious, King Satan? You wanna flee?”  
“Well a valiant retreat is the safest option. And she did just cut off my horn, remember.”  
“Yeah. Whatever. Could’ve easily taken her on if you had let me take her on. You should’ve seen the face she made when I told her I’d skin her,” Catarina said amused.  
Satan made a face at his subordinate’s view of enjoyment. “Best not to make such claims.”  
“Why?” she asked genuinely confused.  
“Because it’s crazy!” her king shouted at her.  
Catarina said calmly, “What’s wrong with communicating my actions with my intended target? It’s better than that barbaric growling that some demons do. And she deserves some kinda punishment after injuring Lucifer.”  
“No it isn’t,” Satan insisted. Then after a sigh, “Honestly I don’t know what’s worse, you saying it so calmly or if you were saying it menacingly.”  
The group had reached the end of the alleyway and Alciel’s suddenly shouted shocked. “King Satan! Why have you taken that form? It is so small? ”  
Catarina looked at what she thought would be her three metre tall king and was instead greeted by a young man not much taller than herself. “My lord,” she said surprised, putting her hands over her mouth to hide a slight tug at her lips. She had been so used to the imposing form of her king that this figuring was pretty much, well, amusing. She put her hand above her head. “Oh, this is great. You’ve shrunk so much.” She looked at her back and noticed that her pitch black wings had disappeared. A world without magic? Catarina thought intrigued.  
Satan looked at his subordinates and saw that they had lost their demonic appearance, then he looked at his own hands and said shocked, “No, it cannot be... These are human hands?”  
Then suddenly a loud car went past and Alciel held out his hands to cast a spell.  
“Calm yourself, Alciel. Be careful not to use magic,” Satan ordered calmly.  
“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to get into any trouble now, would we?” Catarina said. While her two male companions were freaking out because of their physical changes, Catarina looked around and noticed that even though it had technology like her home world, it wasn’t as advanced.  
“Hey kids, excuse me for a sec,” a man approaching them in a blue police uniform suddenly asked them. “Mind if we talk to you?”  
“Do not speak to me so familiarly, human,” Alciel said with disdain, straightening up and facing the uniformed human straight on. “Do you wish to die right here?”  
“Oh, looks like we’ve got a coupla foreigners,” the man said to his colleague.  
“Well, that should make this a good story.” Then the colleague turned towards the demons and slowly said, “Do you understand the words I’m saying right now?”  
“Yet still?! Even not speaking our language... I am a demon, a user of magic who could easily kill you...” Alciel threatened.  
“Alciel. Do not use magic right now. We must learn of this world. We shall cooperate,” Satan said, assessing the situation.  
“You think they’d be hot, huh, dressed up like that,” the second man noted.  
“I think they’re cosplaying, sir. It’s weird though. We don’t get much of their kind in this neighbourhood.” The man was referring to the strange clothes that the demons were wearing from their homeland.  
The second man approached the police car and said into a police communication device, “This is Sasaki out on patrol. I’ve got a coupla youths with minor injuries here...”  
As Sasaki continued talking, Alciel commented on the car, “This seems to be some sort of carriage, but one that does not need horses.”  
“It doesn’t seem to be powered by magic either,” Satan added.  
“This world clearly has more advanced technology,” Catarina commented with interest. She just couldn’t help but love the fact that her king and his general were so confused about the new things around them.  
Once Sasaki had finished talking he turned towards the demons and asked politely, “Now guys, you mind joining us in the car?” He said as he went to place his hand on Alciel’s back to usher him in the car, “You’re not in trouble.”  
Alciel immediately jumped backwards and said, “How dare you lay a finger on me, lowly human!? Know your place, vermin.” Then he moved his hands to cast a spell, but unfortunately for him it didn’t do anything so they had no choice but to cooperate.  
Once in the car Catarina sighed. “What did I just say about getting us into trouble?”  
Then the car drove off to the police station.

Once at the police station the trio got an officer assigned to them so they could talk to them and be fed. Catarina looked around her room curiously as the officer was trying to get through to her by talking really slowly. _Need to find out a way to learn this new language_ , she thought absentmindedly while playing with her ring. _Have hardly any magic now, so killing him’d probably be bad_. She cocked her head and looked at the officer with a curious smile. _But I can make him sleep_. She got up out of her chair and the man tried to tell her to sit down again but she just ignored him. She placed her hands on the right pressure points against his neck and squeezed, making the man fall unconscious. She smiled. _Well he was a fail. Wonder how he got his job._ She looked around and found a baton slung in a holster around his belt. _Interesting_. She carefully took it out and went to sit back in her chair. _Never had anything like this back home _. So she started playing with it until her king arrived and said disapprovingly, “Catarina.”__  
“Oh, hi there, King Satan. How are you?” she asked with a carefree smile.  
He sighed in exasperation. “Good. Common, let’s find Alciel.”  
She got up and placed the baton on the table. “Sure thing."  
After they found Alciel, Satan explained, “Apparently in this world we are only fantasies. These humans don’t consider things like demons or even the Devil to be authentic. No one believes that magic legitimately exists.>” “They do not believe in magic? How do they survive?” Alciel said shocked.  
“With other means obviously. Like that vehicle we were in earlier. Not powered by magic, but something else instead,” Catarina replied at the tediousness of her colleague.  
The trio left the police station and continued walking and talking. Satan concluded that if Earth was familiar with the concept of magic, they might have a chance of regaining theirs but until then they had no choice but to live in the human world and obey the human rules. First the demons – with some help of Satan’s magic – managed to get official records.  
“Next we create accounts at the bank,” Satan said, once they exited the ward office with their new records.  
“I could also steal some money, my lord,” Catarina said offhandedly.  
“What did I just say about obeying the human rules?”  
“Oh yeah. Sorry. Forgot,” she said holding up a purse.  
“Put that back.”  
“Will do, my lord,” Catarina said bowing dramatically as she went to hand it back swiftly to the owner. The owner hadn’t even realised that his purse had been stolen seconds ago, so she just pretended that he’d dropped it. “Now that’s what I call a job well done,” she said with a satisfied smile.  
“Well if you hadn’t done it in the first place... Forget it. Look for a legal job. Ok? I don’t want you stealing anyone else’s money.”  
“Will do.” Catarina paused for a while. “Also about our future living situation. How’d you want to handle it? Want us to buy a place together, separately but in the same apartment complex or just somewhere completely different?” “We’ll see when we get to that. Best just to stay with us until anything permanent is suggested.”


	14. Life in another world

Satan – now Sadao Maou – had managed to get a part time job at a local fast-food restaurant called MgRonald, Alciel – now Shiro Ashiya – had had a job for a short while but had been fired so now he had been put in charge of researching on how to regain their magic and finally Catarina – now Cathy Pravina – had gotten a job at a restaurant close to MgRonald called El Diablo’s. She had taken her time to get her job because in the beginning she only wanted to work close to where her king worked, just to be sure that she could get to him fast if the time called for it. Which made her really satisfied with her current position and Maou was working his hardest to keep his job. Cathy’s job also made that she had enough money to buy her own apartment, which was room 102 of Villa Rosa Sasazuka, which was near the current Devil’s Castle – room 201.  
On Maou’s way to work it started to rain, so he opened the umbrella that Ashiya had forced him to take with him. At an intersection where he was waiting for the light to turn green a young woman with pink hair stopped next to him, panting because she had been running. Maou noticed her and handed over his umbrella and left on his bike Dullahan.  
During his and Chiho’s break, Chiho noticed that there was an earthquake. Then the manager Mayumi Kisaki came in and then said that once their breaks were over she’d want both of them at 100% and that that would be where the fight for number 1 got real.  
After the break Maou was frying the chips, but once he took them out of the fryer he noticed that they hadn’t been cooked all the way through. _Don’t tell me the fryer’s broken_ , he thought freaking out. _Why did it have to be the black pepper fryer?_ he wondered, since the black pepper fries were the featured item. _Ok, Maou focus. What now? If I don’t do something being number 1 is going to be the least of our problems. Should I use magic?_ Maou thought desperately, concentrating some magic in his right hand. It is kind of an emergency, he thought thinking back to Ashiya’s warning. He looked around nervously not sure what to do, until Kisaki came and asked him what was wrong. Once the problem with the fryer was revealed, people came to fix it.  
While Maou was waiting in the break room for the fryer to be fixed, Kisaki asked him to come over to her office.  
_What’s going on? Is she really mad? It’s not like I broke the lousy thing. Maybe she’s suspicious because I was about to use magic_ , Maou thought nervously.  
“Thanks for waiting,” Kisaki said as she entered her office. “At ease kid,” she said, letting herself fall into her sofa, “it’s not bad. In fact I’m going to make your day. I was just waiting to get final approval from our district office.”  
“Oh. For what?” Maou asked confused.  
“For your promotion. Sadao Maou as of today you are A Level Staff.”  
This news made Maou so happy that he cycled fast and happily back from work. At another intersection Maou was suddenly greeted by the girl from earlier. “Hey.”  
“Hey, it’s you.”  
“I went to your restaurant after our conversation.”  
“Oh, you did? Really?” Maou said smiling. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you. Next time just say something and I’ll come say hi.”  
“I watched you all day from the bookstore from across the street.”  
“Huh?”  
“You look so different. I thought for a second I must be wrong. But then I saw you start to cast a spell.”  
“A spell? What? Wait. Who are you?”  
“First tell me why you’re working part time at a MgRonald,” the girl said, pointing her finger accusingly at Maou. “Why, Satan?”  
“The Hero Emilia?”  
“I saw you cast a spell. Tell me why the king of darkness would be working part time at a MgRonald.”  
“The Hero Emilia?” Maou asked shocked. “Yeah, forget about me. What are you doing here?”  
“I leapt through the Gate, just like you. This moment shall be your last,” she said threateningly.  
“Emilia, wait,” Maou said, putting his hand up in defence. “I can explain.”  
“No,” she said, reaching into her handbag. “I don’t want to hear what you have to say. Prepare to die Devil,” she said, brandishing her new weapon.  
“Let’s chat. Ok?” Maou said nervously.  
“No. Let’s don’t. I’m not here to talk it out; I’m here to kill you.”  
“Cool. It’s just your knife,” Maou said, pointing at the weapon his nemesis was brandishing. “Isn’t it from that crappy 100 yen store from downtown?”  
“What? I...What’s your stupid point?” Emilia asked, not expecting such a comment.  
“Where’s your sacred sword?”  
“You know what? That’s none of your business,” Emilia said defensively.  
“Have you by chance lost your celestial force?” Maou asked mockingly. “Or maybe you just can’t afford to waste it.”  
“Well, you’re in the same boat, aren’t you? The magic I’m sensing from you right now is practically nothing compared to what it was in Ente Isla.”  
“Duh, obviously. I’m on a bike,” Maou said simply.  
“Sword or no sword, a Devil without magic working fast-food is not an adversary I need to worry about. En garde,” were the final words she said before she attacked the Devil King. Not a second later she was pinned against the floor, her hands behind her back and the knife she had wanted to use against the Devil King against her neck. “It’s like people’s IQ’s drop after big battles,” a menacing female voice from behind her. “This truly is disappointing. Now what to do?” she said, singing the last sentence.  
“Cathy,” Maou said cautiously, having regained his composure after the shock of his bodyguard appearing out of thin air in this magicless society.  
She looked up at him and smiled a predatory smile. “Yes, my lord. Should I kill her?”  
“You know what I want you to do,” Maou said in a strict voice.  
She sighed. “Of course, my lord,” she said and moved the blade away from Emilia’s neck. Further and further towards herself, until it ripped into fabric and Emilia let out a yelp. Then Cathy got up from her enemy and said coldly, “Relax, nothing big. Just be happy that that’s all I’m gonna do to you. That is, of course, unless I’m ordered to do otherwise.” She looked at Maou for a second. “But doubt it.”  
Emilia had scrambled to her feet and was now holding onto her arm, which had now something on it that looked like a burn scar which was slightly bleeding. She looked from her assailant to king that stood behind her. She opened her mouth and closed it again.  
“You wanna say something, Emilia? ’Cause if you do, don’t be quiet on my account.”  
“I know where you live,” she finally said.  
A lethal glint entered Cathy’s eyes. “Ooh, scary. Don’t turn into too much of a stalker, otherwise might consider calling the police. Then again, they are quite lenient when it comes down to some crimes.” She cocked her head at the Hero. “Is that all?”  
“Yes,” she said and speed walked away from the demons.  
Once Emilia was far enough, Cathy turned to Maou and said, “You okay?”  
“Yes. Um...thanks,” he said uncertainly.  
She waved her hand in front of her dismissively. “Nothing. Kinda my job, so you know, should take it seriously sometimes. Or you might end up firing me.”  
“Doubt it.” Maou started walking towards the Devil’s Castle. “But it probably wasn’t such a wise move to use your magic like that.”  
Cathy shrugged. “I was in the neighbourhood and heard what was going on. So decided to teleport over and you know,” she flashed him a playful smile, “save you.”  
“Yeah. Which is much appreciated.”  
“So you gonna tell Alciel ’bout it?”  
“No. He’ll probably just freak out.”  
Cathy snickered. “Yeah. Not being able to help his king in crisis.”  
“Yeah.”  
While they she was looking at the sky, Cathy smiled slightly. “She’s actually kinda cute. Shame she’s a hero, if I weren’t eternally bound to Lucifer, I would consider going out with her.”  
Maou blinked and stopped. “What?”  
She stopped and looked at him. “Just hypothetically, my lord. In a world where she isn’t our enemy and I’m not madly in love with Lucifer.”  
“No. That’s not what I’m asking about. You’re...attracted to women as well?”  
“Oh yeah. Didn’t mention before, did I? I’m bi. I ‘went out’ with the guys and girls back home and felt the same toward them.” The reason she had put went out in air quotes was because even if to a certain extent they had been her boyfriend or girlfriend she hadn’t really done anything physically with them. The main reason being that she had never been truly attracted to them and had used them as a social experiment, the other being that she hadn’t been sure about that stuff yet. She had been like a young teen finding out about dating, even if she had always known what to do in what situations.  
“Does he know?”  
“Yes.”


	15. A visitor

The next evening during dinner at the Devil’s Castle the bell suddenly rang. The demons wondered who it could be, so Ashiya went over to ask politely who was on the other side of the door.  
“That’s an unexpected courteous answer coming from a demon. Especially from you, General Alciel,” Emilia said through the door.  
Maou, who had been drinking, spat out his drink and once she had revealed herself Ashiya shouted out, “Emilia the Hero,” and locked the door.  
Cathy sighed with an irritated smile. “What’s she doing here?” she said under her breath.  
Maou informed his other subordinate nonchalantly that the previous day Emilia had tried to kill him with a small knife.  
Ashiya made a shocked noise.  
“Relax, Alciel. I was there to protect him.”  
“So you’re actually doing what you’re supposed to.”  
“Which is more than I can say for you.”  
“Seriously guys, stop bickering.” Maou let out an irritated sigh. “Let her in.”  
Once the door had been opened the demons came face to face with a Hero who had been lightly sobbing because of the neglect from earlier. “This place is a dump. It’s shabby and tiny and has paper thin walls.”  
“Ok, now you’re just being mean,” Maou said.  
“The Devil’s Castle prioritises functionality over comfort.”  
“Great excuse there, Alciel,” Cathy said and then smiled cruelly at Emilia and said, “How’s your arm doing?”  
Emilia, considering what had happened the day before, took a step back and subconsciously reached for her now-scarred arm. Cathy smiled satisfactory. _It really did put her on edge. Oh, I’m gonna have a fun time torturing this poor soul. Guess it’s not that bad that King Satan doesn’t want me to kill her._  
Maou looked warily at his bodyguard and concluded that she wouldn’t be dropping any bodies today so he started arguing with Emilia. After arguing with Maou it was revealed that Emilia had come to Earth by herself. Apparently the high priest Olba was supposed to have gone with her, but the Gate had closed just before he could make it through.  
“You should go find a way home,” Maou suggested. “You know where we live but it’s not like we’re going to move away and hide. We can’t afford to. I’ll just begin an attempt at world conquest from this Devil’s Castle.”  
“This from someone who can’t even get a full-time job,” Emilia mocked.  
“If you think I plan to live a peaceful part-timers life, you are dead wrong. I’ve got goals. One of them of which is to subjugate this world,” Maou said grandiosely. He smirked then got up and said, “For your information Hero, MgRonald sometimes lets their part-timers go full-time.” He cackled and pointed at Emilia. “Hear me Emilia, I shall become a regular employee of this world and thus accumulate wealth and social status. I shall become so powerful; all manner of humans shall kneel before me. Then I shall invade Ente Isla once more.”  
This speech got a light applause from Ashiya and Cathy said with pride, “Well said, my lord.” Emilia on the other hand just placed her head against her knees in humiliation at what had become of the once feared Devil King and said, “That’s ludicrous.”  
Maou smirked. “Don’t feel bad. I’m sure a mere human like you has no way of understanding my lofty aims.”  
“I suspect she understands all too well, Sire.”  
Emilia lifted up her head, stood up and said, “Wow. Somehow I just don’t care. Huh. Goodbye, I’m going home now. I have work tomorrow. But don’t get the wrong idea. If I use my remaining power I could kill you any time I want.”  
“Really? Then what are you waiting for?” Maou said dubiously, which made Cathy look at her lord as if saying he was being idiotic. Then she started playing with her ring, ready to protect her king like she had sworn to do.  
“If I use it all up on you, then I won’t have enough to go home to Ente Isla,” Emilia said, putting on her shoes. “As long as you behave I’ll let you live until I figure out a way out of here. Oh and in this world my name is Emi Yusa. Try not to forget it,” she said, glaring at the demons one last time and then left the apartment.


	16. Sniper attack

Later that month Maou got a visit at the MgRonald from Emi who was keeping tabs on him.  
“Welcome,” Maou said politely.  
“May I...have a moment?” Emi asked guarded.  
“Are you ready to order some fooood, miss?”  
“I need to speak with you outside.”  
“To-go order then?” Maou said, as if speaking in code.  
“As soon as you get off work, meet me at the intersection where we first met. And I’m not taking no for an answer,” Emi said, glaring at Maou.  
“Would you like to make that a meal?”  
“Come alone or else...” Emi threatened.  
“Ok. We can do that,” Maou said, agreeing to the proposition. “Just a burger this time. Can I get one Big Mg please? To go!” Maou shouted to the kitchen.  
“I don’t plan on fighting you either, so don’t chicken out.”  
“Great. Thanks a bunch,” Maou said, bowing and extending his arm to the side. “Step to the side please. Your food will be right out.”  
Once Emi’s order was done, she went outside continued glaring at Maou from the other side of the street. Back in the MgRonald Maou was introduced to the jealousy of his colleague Chiho.  
And so after work Maou cycled to the intersection and met with Emi.  
“So, what do you want to talk about?” Maou said, wanting to get straight to the point.  
“I want the answer to an important question,” Emi said seriously. “The truth. Would you prefer to stay in this world forever?”  
“What? No. Of course I wouldn’t. Geez. Where did that even come from?”  
“I’ve watched your behaviour and attitude at work, not to mention your crap home over the past several days.”  
“So now you’re stalking me?” Maou said disapprovingly.  
“You haven’t done anything evil and you’re living a simple, serious life. Your manager and your co-worker all trust you implicitly and you deal with customers confidently and kindly. You’re the perfect MgRonald employee.”  
“That’s not a compliment, is it?”  
“I was ready to ride off what you said. About trying to conquer this world for yourself. But now I’m starting to think there is some truth behind those words. Because if you’re willing to spend the rest of your life in this world, then I don’t feel the need to kill you just for the sake of it. Why don’t you, Ashiya and Cathy just stay here and conquer stuff?”  
“If you’re telling straight men to live with other straight men forever is some sort of twisted thing you’ve got, you need major help lady,” Maou said seriously.  
“I think you should give up on Ente Isla. Find a new life and a new enemy here on Earth.”  
Maou smiled a smile that could only be described as pure demonic. “Hah. Not going to happen. I told you, I’m going back to Ente Isla and I will subjugate it.”  
Then suddenly something happened to Dullahan’s tire and Maou flew off it.  
“How could you die on me right after I brought you?” Maou asked with tears in his eyes.  
Emi walked over to Maou and said, “Geez. Dramatic much? You know you can fix a flat for practically nothing, right?”  
“Are you for real?” Maou said hopefully, turning towards Emi. “I’ll go first thing in the morning.”  
Then suddenly a purple projectile hit the now-lifeless Dullahan and Maou put his hand over his head for protection.  
“It’s someone shooting at us,” Maou said.  
“I think you’re right.”  
Before the next storm of projectiles could hit either of them Maou managed to tackle Emi to the floor. Then another wave came and Emi now took on the role as protector. Then Maou decided that the best course of action would be to run towards the train station where there would be plenty of people. Once they’d lost their assailant Maou revealed that the projectiles were actually made out of magic.  
“Magic? What does that mean?” Emi asked confused.  
“We’re dealing with someone fairly powerful,” Maou said, catching his breath. “And that someone knows who you and I really are.”  
“Who could that possibly be?” Emi wondered aloud.  
“A mystery sniper at the precise place where a demon and a hero decide to meet up. A logical assumption is that they gotta be from Ente Isla. See the kind of trouble you get me into?” Maou said accusingly.  
“Wait! You think this is my fault!?”  
“If you’d picked a safer time and place, this wouldn’t have happened. So yes, I think this is your fault.”  
“Wrong! It’s totally your fault for working so late.”  
Before the argument could continue, Maou decided to leave so that he could have a nice rest at home before his early start the next day. But unexpectedly not much later Emi showed up at the Devil’s Castle and admitted that she had lost her purse during the mystery attack and so asked whether she could stay the night at the Devil’s Castle. Maou allowed it, much to Ashiya’s dismay.

The next day Maou informed Cathy about what had happened the day before.  
She nodded. “I thought I felt something magical yesterday. Want me to check it out?” Even though it seemed like she was cool about it, deep inside her heart felt like it was about to explode. This was because the magical presence she had felt yesterday was from none other than her boyfriend, which made her wonder what was going on and why on earth he would attack someone they had both agreed could relieve them off their boredom. _What happened to you Lucifer? Why are you attacking him?_  
“No, don’t bother. Whoever it was will probably show themselves sooner or later.”  
“If you’re sure, my lord. So how’s Dullahan?” Cathy was referring to Maou’s bike who he had decided to call Dullahan and had received a punctured tire during the attack.  
“Good. I’m having its tire fixed.”  
“Good. Have to head to work now. See you later.”  
“Yeah. Bye.”


	17. Happy reunion

The next day there was a news report about the mysterious attack and it was said that a bike had been found at the crime scene. The reporter also talked about a string of late night robberies that had been going on lately.  
Maou had decided to meet up with Chiho who had said that she had a feeling about a possible new earthquake. Later that day Emi also got a threatening call at work from someone who was definitely a demon, but since he’d used a voice-scrambler she couldn’t tell who it was.  
During Maou and Chiho’s date Chiho revealed that she’d been hearing voices of someone speaking a foreign language, which made Maou realise that she was receiving an Idea Link somehow. Later there was an earthquake and because of all of the fear of the people around him, Maou managed to get back his demonic form and save everyone. Afterwards he turned back to his human form because he had used up most of his magic.  
The next day Emi came by because she had spent the night at the Devil’s Castle after losing her purse during a sniper attack and owed Maou some money. After handing over the money, she started walking down the stairs. Maou tried to warn her to be careful walking down the stairs, but the warning was too late and she tripped over. So she was allowed back inside to tend to her wounds. Apparently there was no gauze, so Maou asked Ashiya to head over to the pharmacy and buy some along with some medical tape. Maou grabbed a cloth with disinfectant and said, “Guess we can go ahead and disinfect it.”  
“Don’t touch me!” Emi screamed and snatched the cloth out of Maou’s hands. “I can handle it myself.”  
“Geez. Well excuse me, princess,” Maou said irritated. “Have at it,” he said, handing over the other supplies.  
Emi put the cloth with the disinfected against her bruised face and whimpered.  
“Stings, huh,” Maou said from the table.  
“Does this?!” Emi yelled; throwing the bottle with disinfected at Maou’s head, which he luckily managed to dodge.  
“Dude, what was that for? Chill out.”  
“Shut up!” Emi shouted, getting up. “What are you doing!? You’re the Devil! So why haven’t you been acting like a demon at all? Like not a single atrocity?”  
“I honestly don’t understand where all this is coming from.”  
“No? You’re poor, you cook, you’re respected at your lame job, you charm your way into the hearts of high school girls!”  
“Huh?”  
“I have never heard of a devil being proud of a random teenager having a crush on him!”  
“That part seems a little personal,” Maou said calmly.  
“Because it was personal!”  
Maou tsked. “Well I’ve never seen a hero so inept that she falls down stairs, cries and has to be put back together by a couple of demons!” Maou retorted.  
Emi sighed and looked away. “Why are you being so courteous?”  
“What?”  
“Why be nice to me? To people. Why are you being nice to people of this world?” Emi started crying softly. “If you have the capacity for compassion...if you have the capacity for kindness...why didn’t you show it when you killed my father!” she shouted, turning towards him. “The Devil I know is cruel and vicious. He murders humans and squashes them under his feet like they are bugs. And you know what makes that devil happy? Death and destruction and sorrow and blood!”  
“I uh...”  
“You burned our fields with your fire, destroyed our castles with lightning. You swept away our towns with blood. You are the ruler of demons and you let your monsters any brutality. I swear I will never forgive you. Our home, our fields, my father’s life. You took away everything I’ve ever loved. I was happy.” Emi fell to her knees crying. “You destroyed it all. Never, I’ll never forgive you,” she said, sobbing into her hands.  
Maou stood up after having listened seriously. “Wow. Ok. I’ve never given it much thought but I’m sorry, you know. Back then...I didn’t really understand what humans were like.”  
Then the door suddenly opened and Chiho said, “Morning, Mister Maou.”  
The pair looked towards the door in surprise and Ashiya, who was standing behind Chiho said, “Look who I ran into while I was at the pharmacy. I asked her to come by and I...”  
“And I should not have come,” Chiho said, backing away. “I’m interrupting something. You two, you two really are a thing.”  
“Chi, no,” Maou said, trying to defuse the situation.  
“Chiho, I swear we’re not. It’s not how it looks,” Emi added.  
“I’m sorry,” Chiho said, bowing and then leaving in tears.  
“Chiho,” Maou called out.  
“So, that was bad.”  
Maou groaned.  
“My, my a lover’s quarrel,” said the voice of the plus sized landlady, Miki Shiba. “An old flame over this beautiful new girl. And without warning the new sweetheart arrives at the scene just in time to discover her darling love never truthfully broke things off with his ex. Well, this is the variety of sort of romantic drama that serving up to cause the diabetes.”  
“Yes!” Ashiya agreed from behind. “I feel the same way.”  
_Of course you do_ , Maou thought irritated.  
“I’m Miki Shiba, the landlady of this fine establishment,” Shiba introduced to Emi. “I take it you are Mister Maou’s girlfriend. Or one of them at the very least.”  
“I’m not dating this loser!” Emi shouted, getting up.  
“You’re the loser. Miss Shiba...”  
“Non,” Shiba said, putting her finger to her lips. “Miki T please.”  
“Right forgot,” Maou said.  
“Listen kids, I’m having some repairs done to the building,” she said, taking out a letter. “This is my official notification to the tenants. Quite a few disturbing occurrences these days, cave-ins and muggings and what-have-you.”  
Maou snarled.  
“I wonder whether something will happen again today, don’t you?” Shiba asked, looking towards Ashiya.  
“I...um...I hope not.”  
“Which reminds me. That adorable young lady who was just here seems to have run off towards the train station in tears.”  
At that moment there was yet another earthquake.  
“Mister Maou, if you’ve been bold to her I hope you prepare to take full responsibility.”  
“For what?”  
“Come now. Surely you’ve realised the truth. That child took a direct sonar hit and received an Idea Link transmission. An earthquake at this moment is hardly a coincidence. A human being’s heart and will have immense power, right. I imagine if someone knew that to be a fact it would be the three of you. In my opinion you should run to her rescue before it’s too late,” Shiba said and then walked off.  
“That was...weird,” Maou said uncertainly. Then another big earthquake hit.

The trio ran towards where Chiho had run off to and saw an explosion and then noticed a figure with black wings coming out of the rubble. Lucifer had revealed himself and was ready for battle.

Cathy was calmly working at El Diablo’s when she felt a magical presence she’d been looking forward to feeling ever since his assassination attempt on their king. Cathy started smiling broadly, she even let the twinkle in her eye – which had disappeared due to the separation of her and her boyfriend – appear in her eye. _Nice of you to drop by again._  
After a while the humans around her started disappearing. _So King Satan put up his anti-human barrier, huh._ She ran over to the changing room, got dressed and teleported over to where she could see the fight going on. It most definitely was intriguing. Apparently for some reason Lucifer had teamed up with the high priest Olba and was now fighting against Ashiya, in demon form, and Emi, in her hero battle gear. The only human still present was Maou’s work colleague, Chiho Sasaki, surrounded by a protective barrier. And Maou, looking at him she had to hold in a snicker. All the great king of demons was doing was holding up a collapsing expressway, which she presumed Lucifer had destroyed in his rampage. As she continued watching the fight unfold, she noticed that the odds weren’t exactly turning out in her boyfriend’s favour. She considered going over to help him, but thought that he would probably rather finish it off himself – like any other fight.  
After Maou thought the fight had been going on long enough, he carefully put down the expressway and started flying, straight to Lucifer to hand him his final move. She sighed irritated. _Not on my watch, you don’t_ , she thought before she teleported into the air.

On the other side of the battle Lucifer was shaking in fear of what the Demon King would do to him. Maou collected loads of magic in his right hand and went on to punch Lucifer, but before any contact could be made with the small demon a blade appeared and redirected the attack to the sky.  
“Cathy?” Maou said surprised.  
“Cat?!” Lucifer asked, not expecting to see his girlfriend here so soon.  
All she gave her king was a jaded look.  
“Um…you see…” he started nervously, hoping that she wouldn’t join the fight, even though the magic he felt from her was minimal.  
“Is this really the time to go off spouting random facts?” she asked, continuing her jaded stare.  
“No. You know. The fight is over, let’s go down and talk a bit,” he said to Emi and Ashiya who were standing behind him. Then the trio flew to the ground, leaving boyfriend and girlfriend alone in the air.  
Cathy turned towards her boyfriend. Even though the look of fear in his eyes remained, she shook her head in exasperation at him. He opened his mouth to explain why he had chosen to betray their king, but was promptly stopped by his girlfriend’s lips on his. “Don’t bother explaining now, honey. There’s plenty of time for that, later. Let’s go.” She smiled at him. “Also, it’s kinda to be expected considering happened way back when.”  
He sighed. “Don’t remind me.”  
She gave him a teasing grin, making him pull her in closer for another kiss. “I missed you,” he said, centimetres from her lips.  
“Missed you too,” she said, feeling the happiness surge up inside her.  
They heard the loud throat clearing of Maou who said, “Hey guys. I know you’re happy to see each other again and all, but could you please leave if for some other time. We’ve got stuff to do.”  
“Of course, my lord. Come on, sweetie.”  
It was revealed that Lucifer had been the one to call Emi at work and he had gotten her number by stealing her purse after the sniper attack, which made Cathy say that she loved him with a proud smile on her face and Maou think with a sigh that they were made for each other.  
Afterwards Maou told Emi, to take her friends who had just arrived – Emeralda Etuva and Albert Ende – along with Chiho to the Devil’s Castle and wait there for his return.  
Once the group was far enough Cathy took Lucifer to the side and asked him sternly, “So, mind telling me why you attacked King Satan like that?”  
“I made a deal with Olba...”  
“What kind of deal?” Cathy asked cautiously.  
“That if I killed Satan and Emilia, he would get me back into heaven.” Lucifer noticed his girlfriend’s emotions from slight irritation turn into pure indignation but before she could say anything else he added, “He didn’t give me a choice.”  
“What do you mean?” Cathy asked in a deadly calm voice.  
Lucifer gulped. “He said that I could do that, or that otherwise he’d kill me then and there.”  
Cathy smiled cruelly as she took out her sword and started walking towards the unconscious priest. “Oh, it’s been too long ago since I’ve had the chance to cut someone up. I’m gonna enjoy this.”  
Maou, who had just finished fixing the destroyed area, ran between predator and prey. “Cathy, wait.”  
“Why?” she challenged.  
“Just let the police handle him.”  
She laughed coldly. “Yeah. Like they handled us when we first arrived here.”  
“If they take him into custody, they probably won’t go out of their way to look for Lucifer.”  
The killing gleam in her eyes lessened. She looked towards her boyfriend, who was currently looking at her in awe. “Fine,” she said through a sigh. “But, if he escapes or anything, he’s mine.”  
“Yes.”  
Her only response was a satisfied smile.

On the way back to the Devil’s Castle, Cathy asked, “So I’ve also been wondering; how did Emilia actually defeat you? Surely it couldn’t have been that difficult for you to defeat her?”  
Lucifer looked down uncomfortably. “Don’t be too mad, okay?”  
“Huh? Why’d I be mad?”  
“’Cause when she first started freeing the Western Island, I didn’t feel like taking her down yet. Just waited till the end.”  
Cathy stopped walking. “So you’re saying that you were too lazy to go after her at first?”  
“Somethin’ like that, yeah,” he admitted.  
She groaned. “Oh, Lucifer.” She let go of his hand which she had been holding since they’d left Shinjuku station and rubbed her face. “Why’d I have to fall for such a lazy idiot?”  
“Catarina?”  
“Yeah. Just wait a sec,” she said, holding up her other hand. “Just need to let the second-hand embarrassment sink in.”  
“Sorry,” he genuinely apologised shyly.  
She gave him a small smile. “Don’t hafta, you know. It’s who you are. Honestly, I’d probably be more surprised if you’d gone after her straight away. But it’s still kinda embarrassing.”  
“I know.”  
After a minute, she took a deep breath and continued walking towards the Devil’s Castle.


	18. Questionable quest

Eventually Lucifer got the name Hanzou Urushihara.  
Cathy entered the Devil’s Castle and noticed that only her boyfriend was present. She looked around. “Where are King Satan and Alciel?” She neared him. “You haven’t killed them, have you?”  
Urushihara took his eyes off his computer and faced her. A mischievous smile was present on his lips, as was a playful look in his eyes. “What makes you think I’d do something like that, Cat?”  
She shrugged and sat beside him. “It’s a possibility.”  
“Yeah. But then the question would be: where are the bodies?”  
She chuckled. “Good point.” She looked around. “I’d be difficult to hide them here. The only possibility is the closet.”  
He grinned. “Sure ’bout that, Cat? Ashiya’s too be for that.”  
“True.” She continued looking at him with a loving smile. “Burying would cost too much effort, as would the other things. So I’m guessing they’re probably still alive. But where?”  
He shook his head in exasperation. “Took you long enough. They’re at Sasahata North High School.”  
She raised her eyebrows intrigued. “Why?”  
“’Cause I forgot the console I was playing when I left. Used to live in the abandoned classroom there.”  
She frowned. “With Olba.”  
“Yeah.”  
She sighed. After a second something hit her. “Lucifer, you’re actually saying you sent our king there to fetch it for you?”  
Like everything concerning her and Maou, Urushihara didn’t know whether she would be mad at him for doing it or not. “Yeah.”  
She sighed. “Oh, honey, you idiot. It’s nice that he does something for you for a change, but still… you could’ve just as well asked me.”  
“But that would’ve ended up in you havin’ to go there and putting effort into it.”  
She laughed and shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I fell for you.”  
“In good or bad way?”  
She pulled him in for a kiss. “Good way of course. Very good way.”  
He grinned as he shifted his weight so he had more control over his position. “Good. ’Cause sometimes I can’t believe how weird you were for falling for me.”  
She giggled. “Shut up.”  
He gave her a shrewd smile, turning her face away so he wouldln’t see the colour in her face increasing. He moved his mouth to centimetres from her ear, whispered, “It’s nice seeing this cute side of you, Cat,” kissed her on the cheek and went to sit down by his computer again.  
Now the colour of her cheeks was on par with her eyes as she covered it.  
“Gonna call Maou. Wanna listen in?” he said with a victorious smile before he put an earpiece in his left ear.  
“Sure,” she said in a slightly higher voice as she moved to sit closer to him and held her ear near his.  
Urushihara was greeted by a yelp from Maou, who then went on to say, “What the crap, Urushihara, are you trying to give me a heart-attack!”  
“Dude, what are you shouting at me for? Where are you? Did you make it to the sealed room?” Urushihara asked.  
_Interesting that something managed to freak him out like that_ , Cathy thought intrigued, having regained most of her composure.  
“No, not yet,” Maou answered in an irritated voice. “So what are you calling for?”  
“I’m trying to help you. Jeez, listen. The room in question is most likely an area where the Gate has opened at some point before.”  
“The Gate?” Maou asked. The Gate was a magical gate that a certain number of demons and even humans from Ente Isla could open to go from world to world. That was how Maou had gotten to Japan in the first place.  
“Once the Gate has opened somewhere, magnetic fields in that particular location destabilise and it’s easier for it to open there again,” Urushihara explained.  
“Then that story about that student who was spirited away could actually be true,” Maou said.  
“Could be. I bet that poor kid got sucked into the Gate. Anyway, if we can manage to be there next time it opens or at least figure out when that is. Maybe we can get some magic of it. You never know. Just holler at me when you get there. Lates.” And with those words Urushihara hung up.  
When Urushihara looked over to his girlfriend, she was looking at him with the fullest of affection that this time he could feel a blush forming on his cheeks. “Cat?”  
“At first I wasn’t sure ’bout this. But seeing you in action, manipulating him like that, I can’t say anything against it. I really do love everything about you, Lucifer.”  
Whatever had been holding his blush back stopped. He looked at her silently, not sure what to say. She had said she loved him plenty in the past, that wasn’t it. But for her to say that she loved everything about him, was a rarity.  
Cathy noticed what was going on in her boyfriend’s head and the look on her face softened. “Sorry, honey.” She moved her hand to behind his head. “But it’s true. And nothing you do will ever change that.” Then she kissed him on his forehead.  
Before she knew it, he had his arms wrapped around her. “Don’t go.”  
She was surprised by the gesture, but placed one of her hands on his back nonetheless. “What? Lucifer, what are you talking about? You’re my morning star. I’m not going anywhere.”  
“I know. It’s just…even for the small time that you’re gone, I feel so alone. We’ve always been together, Cat. And I want that to be the case for the future as well.”  
She stroked his head. “Of course it will be. I’m not going anywhere. Even when I’m not by your side, I love you and will be with you. That’s the truth.”  
He just nodded against her while he listened to her calming heartbeat. It had sped up slightly when he had first hugged her, but now it was back to normal. He could almost fall asleep in her arms.  
Cathy saw what was going on. “Lucifer, are you going to call him back at some point?”  
“Yeah. Later.”  
“Okay.”  
So for the coming minutes, the couple stayed in each other’s arms, feeling peaceful.  
Eventually Urushihara thought that it probably had been long enough and begrudgingly let go. He went back to his computer and put his earpiece in. He called Maou. This time he answered in an irritated voice, “What now, Urushihara?”  
“Don’t be rude. Are you there yet?” Urushihara said calmly.  
“Just walked in. What’s with you? Stop calling every five seconds. It’s really annoying.”  
“Do you see anything on the floor? Like say ... a game system.”  
“Yes. We have it right now.”  
“Yeah, I knew it. I had a feeling that’s where it got left,” Urushihara said, knowing full well that he’d forgotten it there.  
“Where it what?” Maou asked, his annoyance turning into anger.  
“Huh? Oh, nothing, never mind. Why don’t you just go ahead and bring that home with ya,” Urushihara said, feeling that he’d screwed up.  
“Just tell me one thing. Do I have to punch you when I get back?” Maou asked.  
This got Cathy’s attention. “Hey, honey, can I talk to Maou?” Even though she was asking it, her hand gesture was more commanding.  
“Yeah, sure. Here ya go,” Urushihara said, passing on the device to his girlfriend.  
“King Satan.”  
Hearing her calm and deadly voice through the phone almost made Maou throw it to the other side of the room. This time it really did feel like his soul might be stolen. “What?”  
“I thought that I’d made it abundantly clear in the past that he is not to be hurt. Unless, of course, you wish to experience pain. In that case, by all means, try.”  
Maou felt like groaning at her threat. He wasn’t actually surprised, but it was still annoying. “Yeah. Got it,” he said and hung up.  
“Thanks, Cat, ” Urushihara said, looking relieved. “And here you show how awesome you can be.”  
“Yeah. Guess did. For a rare night alone, it sure was interesting.”  
“Yeah. Shame it probably won’t happen again.”  
She shrugged with a playful smile. “Maybe.”  
He rolled his eyes. “Cat, you’re being an idiot. You hungry? ’Cause I kinda want to order something but Maou’d get all pissy if I do it for myself with his money.”  
“Sure. I’ll pay for it. What’d you want?”  
“Pizza.”  
“Great choice.”  
“And afterwards maybe I could have some dessert.”  
The look in her eyes was a mixture of disbelief and affection, though mainly disbelief. “We’ll see about that, mister.”  
He raised his eyebrows with a playful look on his face. “Really?”  
“Yeah. We can’t traumatise King Satan or Alciel when they arrive.”  
“True.”  
“Though then again, calling you Lord Lucifer under different circumstances is quite fun.”  
The blush of earlier returned. “Shut up. Just order the food, will ya.”  
“Will do.” She got out her phone and entered the pizza delivery service. Before she pressed call, however, she looked at him with a teasing smile and said, “Lord Lucifer.” Then she turned around and started talking with the ordering company.  
As she was talking on the phone, Urushihara continued staring dreamily at her. He hated using the word, because he knew that it wasn’t only that, but in the end he truly felt lucky to have found her.


	19. Sentucky Fried Chicken

Later that evening the demons of the Devil’s Castle got a neighbour, a young woman who went by the name Suzuno Kamazuki. Later on it was revealed that Suzuno was in fact the Chief of the Doctrinal Corrections Council in Ente Isla and had been sent to Earth to kill the demons and hero. But the more time she spent with the group, the more confused she got about everyone. It appeared that over time the Hero had come to trust the Devil King and that the Devil King was much nicer to her than expected.  
At the moment a major competitor against MgRonald, Sentucky Fried Chicken or SFC for short, was opening and its opening day Maou was the shift manager. There he showed how much of a leader he truly was and managed to save the restaurant. Near the end of the day, while Maou was manning the register along with Chiho, a small, blue-haired man entered and offered Maou his business card. On it Maou saw that his name was Mitsuki Sarue and that he was in fact the manager of the SFC from across the road. Then he noticed Chiho and asked her to make him some food in an inappropriate manner.  
Once he was satisfied with his research of his competitor, he went back to the door, where he passed Cathy who looked at him with a small smile, making him fast walk out the door. While she was still eying the now-gone manager curiously, she said to Maou, “I’ll have some fried chicken, fries and a coke please. Also,” she smiled at Maou amused, “it looks like a ghost town in here.”  
“That will change soon enough,” Maou said confidently.  
“Oh really?” she asked intrigued. “Now that’s something I would like to see. But then again, I did promise him I’d come over once work was over.” She looked towards the door. Or check that out. _He’d understand that._  
“And this?”  
“Part of my other job,” she replied with a playful smile.  
“Yeah. So why were you actually eying that guy like that?”  
“I’ve got my reasons,” she said in a dismissively.  
“Really? That’s all you’ve got to say?”  
She sighed. “It’s not important, my lord. Is my food ready yet?”  
He looked at the cooking area and said, “Almost.”  
She leant on the counter and started thinking. _Should I go after him? Have hardly any powers left and going against an archangel would be stupid on so many levels. So I guess I should just wait. Wonder what he’s here for anyways. Not like they’d send an archangel over to finish off the Devil King, they’ve got the Hero for that. Also, nice that he’s still scared of me. ___  
“Cathy,” Maou said.  
“Yeah,” she said distracted.  
“You’ve got that I’m-thinking-really-hard-about-something look.”  
“Sorry. You know, thinking about him,” she said with an easygoing smile, throwing her king off any scent of this possible new adversary.  
“With such a serious look?” Maou asked doubtfully while putting her order together.  
“Well you know. When it comes down to being with someone, of course you have to think seriously about some things. Like spending the future with the person you love. That kinda obvious crap. So next time, don’t bother asking me. Ok? I don’t want to bore you with stories about my love life.”  
“Well I wouldn’t exactly say that they’re boring.”  
“But not necessary to hear.” She accepted her order and bowed. “Thank you, my lord.” Then she left.


	20. Girls’ day out

Maou was frying chips while Chiho was serving at the counter.  
“Yesterday sure was rough, huh?” Chiho asked her colleague.  
“Yeah,” Maou said, facing her. “But we can’t stop busting our humps now otherwise Sentucky Fried Chicken might steal all our customer’s again,” Maou said, thinking back to what his manager, Miss Kisaki, had said about a worker being shipped off to Greenland because of the bad sales.  
“Hey, Maou,” Maou suddenly heard the voice of his manager behind him and putting a hand on his shoulder. “I want you to help out in another restaurant,” she said with a smile.  
“No. Please don’t do this to me. I made our sales go plus some just like you said,” Maou begged, fearing the worst.  
“What? It’s a fun place.”  
“Huh?” Maou asked confused.  
“Besides, you’re not in trouble. My friend manages the Hushimaen Store and wants to borrow one of my best workers.”  
“Ah. That makes sense,” Maou said relieved that he wasn’t being shipped off to Greenland.  
“Don’t thank me just yet. That joint’s going be out of control busy. The park is opening a bunch of new rides and attractions. So we’ll cover all your expenses and give you a small bonus for your trouble. So yeah, think you’re up to the job?”  
“Of course, ma’am.”  
“Ooh, ooh. Can I go with?” Chiho suddenly asked enthusiastically.  
“That’s all right. I think he can manage without you,” Kisaki answered dismissively.  
“Aw. But I wanna,” Chiho said in a small voice.  
“I’m counting on you, Maou. You’re my top worker, so don’t let me down.”  
“You got it,” Maou said confidently.

Back at Devil’s Castle Ashiya asked, “Oh. Tomorrow you say?”  
“Yep,” Maou answered. “You’re eating too much too fast and you’re not fully recovered yet. Ease up or you’ll make yourself worse.”  
“Sire, the noodles will expire any day now. We have to consume as many of them as we possibly can. But thank you very much for your concern.”  
“She’s right,” Urushihara said from the computer. “The amusement park near that other MgRonald is reopening tomorrow and they’re rolling out a bunch of cool attractions. Looks like they’re expecting a big crowd.”  
“Quit surfing on the interweb and start helping us slurp down some noodles,” Ashiya said disapprovingly.  
“That does sound like fun. What kinda things?” Cathy said, leaning on her boyfriends shoulder so she could look at the screen.  
“They’ve got a wicked new reptile exhibit there,” Urushihara said with wonder. “Dude, over 300 different species.”  
“Cool.” She turned towards Maou. “You’re going to a fun place, my lord.”  
He cocked his head. “Why are you saying it like that?”  
She shrugged and the twinkle in her eye gleamed. “’Cause I’m also going. To keep an eye on you and have fun.”  
“Also, they’ve got a new haunted house.”  
“Really,” she said, looking back towards the screen.  
“It’s supposed to be scarier than Labyrinth of Shucks and everyone says that’s supposed to be the scariest one ever seen,” Urushihara explained. “So if a whole bunch of people are going to a haunted house. That means there’s probably going to be a butt load of concentrated fear right for the taking. You could get some magic.”  
“Oh, that does sound awesome.”  
“Then I shall assist you. I will be there to watch over you with true zeal. Don’t worry, Sire, with me by your side nothing can go wrong,” Ashiya said.  
Cathy made a face. “You’re coming too?”  
“Believe me; I am also not looking forward to spending time with you. But I shall do it for King Satan.”  
“How joyous,” Cathy said, looking less forward to her day at the amusement park but still enough considering how much she could wind Ashiya up.

The next day Cathy and Maou went to the park without Ashiya since he was still feeling unwell.  
Cathy first did a surveillance check on the MgRonald and then went to get changed. She spent the first part of the day near the MgRonald, making extra sure her king was safe. Afterwards she walked around the park and noticed some familiar faces near the entry. She snuck up behind them and listened in on what they were saying.  
“We’re late. I’m sorry,” Emi apologised.  
“Oh. No big deal. How are you Suzuno?” Chiho, who had apparently arrived earlier than the pair asked at the nearing Suzuno.  
“I have no complaints to speak of. Thank you for asking. Though I am a bit concerned, this is my first time at an amusement park. I do hope you will teach me the ways of fun.”  
“Wow. That does sound quite concerning,” Cathy said, making the others turn to face her.  
“Cathy,” Chiho said in a shocked voice. “What brings you here?”  
“It’s cute that you think you have to ask, Chiho Sasaki,” Cathy responded with a smile. She eyed all of them with a glint in her eyes and eventually said, “Should get changed. It’s a big park and it’d be a shame if any of you missed something out.”  
The three other women stared unsurely at each other and then decided to follow. It would probably be best to at least keep an eye on this dangerous fallen angel.  
After the trio had put on their bathing suits, the group went to the MgRonald so Chiho could see Maou.  
When they arrived at the MgRonald, Chiho was the one to order. She went up to Maou and said shyly, “Hi, Maou. How’s it going?” Then she raised her head and said in a cheery voice, “I’d like to order four big Mag Meals, if that’s ok.”  
Maou cleared his throat and said as he typed in the order, “Of course. Here at MgRonald we aim to please.”  
“Thanks,” Chiho said with a slight bow.  
“Four big Mag Combo’s,” Maou shouted to the kitchen.  
“I came here to hang out at the park.”  
“Oh, cool.”  
“Good luck with the crowd. You’re going to do amazing.”  
“Yeah, thanks.”  
“So um... do you like it?” Chiho asked, showing off her ample bosom.  
“Like what?” Maou asked, totally clueless. “Ah,” he said, thinking that he knew what his friend had asked him about, “the store’s definitely a lot busier than the one we work at. The customer’s never stop coming. So it’s been good practice for me.”  
“Ah yes, of course,” Chiho said politely.  
“What doesn’t kill you? Am I right?”  
“Ah yes, of course,” Chiho said and then in a softer voice, “I should’ve seen this one coming.”  
“You really are clueless,” Emi suddenly said from behind Chiho.  
“Unfortunately, I’ll have to agree with this one here, Maou. As smart as you may be, you’re still stupid in other aspects,” Cathy added.  
“That’s beside the point. What are you doing with them?”  
She gave him an easygoing smile. “What, scared I betrayed you? Don’t worry; be useless to do so here anyway. Just saw this group of fine ladies and decided to hang with. Also,” she said, pointing towards Emi, “you know, keeping an eye on her.”  
_She’s not even denying any potential betrayals_ , Maou thought exasperated.  
Emi glared in response, making Cathy feign shock and hurt.  
As Maou shook his head at the easygoingness of his subordinate, he received the order from the kitchen and handed it to the girls.

The four girls found a table outside of the MgRonald and decided to sit there.  
“Wow. This place is like crazy crowded,” Emi commented on all of the people that she saw walking around.  
“I know. It’s like everyone is here to check out the new stuff,” Chiho agreed.  
“Can’t blame them though. It all sounds pretty amazing,” Cathy said.  
“You hear about that new haunted house out there?” Suzuno asked.  
“Yeah, I hear that it’s pretty intense,” Chiho said in a scared voice.  
“All the more reason to go, right? You’ll end up walkin’ into a building knowing that you’ll be scared one way or another, but not sure when or how,” Cathy said looking a little too excited for everyone’s comfort.  
“No way,” Emi said.  
“No way what?” Cathy asked, an eerie smile spreading across her lips.  
“No way you’re coming with us.”  
“What? Why not? I’m just a human like everyone else here who wants to have fun,” Cathy said, tipping her head in mock confusion. “Are you going to deprive me of my fun?”  
Emi grumbled. She couldn’t just say that Cathy was a fallen angel seeking magic because Chiho didn’t know about the fact that Suzuno was the Chief of the Doctrinal Correction Council yet, and this was hardly the time to find out. She would just have to bite her lip and let this fallen angel go into the haunted house. She still had plenty of celestial force from her Holy Vitamin β for if this fallen angel decided to go on a rampage. “Fine. You can go. But no funny business.”  
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Cathy said with a cunning smile as they all got up, chucked their garbage in the bin and headed towards the haunted house.  
_I have a feeling that she would_ , Emi thought bitterly.

The haunted house was a big, old mansion with vines hanging off the walls. They all entered the house, the humans cautious and the demoness curious. The first part of the haunted house was a long hallway with flickering and broken lights and the appearance of a woman under one of them. That scene alone was making Chiho reconsider whether it really was such a good idea. “Wait,” she said, as the others continued walking. Then she stared at the window and saw a dark figure. Lightning flashed and the figure suddenly had blood red eyes. This scene scared Chiho so much that she ran off screaming.  
“Wow, she really took off,” Emi said nonchalantly. “Wimp.”  
“I suppose that we should venture on without her then,” Suzuno suggested.  
“Yeah, see how long you too last,” Cathy challenged.  
“Are you supposed to be a part of this house or something?” Emi asked irritated.  
“Nah. Could be interesting,” Cathy said, considering the idea as a full time haunted house exhibit and all the fear she could inflict on people.  
“No. Let’s just go on,” Emi said annoyed.  
They entered a room and could hear a small figure crying. Suzuno decided to confront it and asked, “Hey, are you all right? Child why are you crying?”  
“She’s gone,” the figure replied.  
“Gone? Who’s gone?” Suzuno asked, as she neared with Yusa and Pravina.  
“My mama.”  
“Where is she?” Suzuno asked, now they were all standing by the figure.  
“My mama.”  
“Ok. Would you like to come with us then?” Suzuno suggested.  
“She gone. My mama,” the figure started repeating the phrase and suddenly turned around to reveal the face of an old doll covered in fake blood. Then a voice from above said, “It’s mama.” This made the two humans run out in fear.  
Cathy exited the house a bit later with a grin stretching from eye to eye. “Oh, you humans sure know to have fun.” Then she spotted the trio who were all holding their heads in their hands crying. “What’s up with you guys? This haunted house too much for you?”  
Emi was up in the fallen angel’s face before anyone could do something. “Get lost.”  
The look in her eyes darkened, while the smile remained. “And why would I do that?”  
“Because-’cause you don’t belong here.”  
“Ouch,” she said, reaching towards her hearth with mock hurt. “And I thought we were getting along so well.” She laughed humourlessly. “But the thing is, Emi, I’m not gonna leave your side while you’re here. You know, precautions and all,” she said looking into the Hero’s eyes, having gone back to her cheerful self.  
Emi felt a chill run down her spine. “Fine,” she said.

First the girls checked out the reptile exhibit, which Cathy unsurprisingly seemed to love. Then they went to the swimming pool area of the park. After Emi had taken off her cardigan, Chiho let out a small gasp. “Yusa, how did you get that scar?” she asked, referring to the small, now permanent burn mark on Emi’s arm.  
Emi gave Cathy an ugly look in response.  
Cathy raised her eyebrows and smiled at her tauntingly. “What’s up with that look? If you want to say something, spit it out.”  
She growled, “No,” then went to the water slide, making Chiho and Suzuno look from one to the other.  
Afterwards they went to the volleyball part of the park and played there for a while. Suddenly they heard screams and saw that some alligators had made it into the swimming pool. Maou had also noticed it and was now going towards the swimming pool, absorbing all of the fear of the people running to safety. Cathy teleported herself next to her king and said, “How can I help?”  
“Erase everyone’s memories.”  
She looked towards the MgRonald, which had become a safe haven for the visitors. “Guess to make their experience here less traumatising.”  
Maou, who had started chanting a spell to subdue the alligators, nodded in confirmation.  
“Sure thing,” she said and did as instructed.

Back at the volleyball part of the park Emi, Chiho and Suzuno had seen all of this unfold. Suzuno was confused because Maou and even Cathy hadn’t acted like she’d expected. She had expected him to take advantage of the situation and use all of the fear for his personal gain, but instead he had used it to calm the alligators down and had asked Cathy to erase the humans’ memories of the event.

After everything had blown over Maou said goodbye to Chiho, Emi and Suzuno, while Cathy stayed to hang out outside the MgRonald while he cleaned up. Afterwards he asked whether she had gained any magic.  
“Think so. Like Lucifer had suggested, managed to get some in the haunted house. But used quite a decent ’mount of it erasing those people’s memories. Guess it’s the same for you.”  
“Yeah. Guess I’m just not supposed to keep my magic.”  
Cathy laughed. “Yeah. It’d be too dangerous otherwise. And then Emilia would have a reason to cut you down.”  
“So it’s a good thing,” Maou concluded.  
“Yeah. Apart from the fact that having no magic sucks. I mean, sure, I can scare people without it, but I can’t actually do anything else. Same goes for protecting you and Lucifer. So far I’ve had enough to teleport over, but what about if someday I just have enough for one attack or somethin’. It’s totally lame, you know.”  
“Maybe. But I’m sure people are safer with you not having any magic.”  
Cathy gave Maou a look of indignation. “What? You think that if I had magic, I’d go around burning and killing people left and right?”  
“The chance is bigger.”  
She sighed. “Yeah. Whatever.”  
As they were going back to Villa Rosa Sasazuka, Cathy let out a long sigh.  
“What’s up?”  
“I saw a lot of couples today, but mostly male, female. Just weird that that’s become the norm in this world.”  
“You’re not exactly one to talk, Cathy.”  
“Yeah, but how many of those people do you think are actually bi?” she said seriously, facing him. “I’ve done some diggin’ on the whole thing and this world doesn’t like people who are different, who don’t fit what they consider the norm. Being attracted to the same gender, or like in my case two genders they for some reason can’t accept. And it’s not like they’re in a big minority or something, some people are just scared of telling the people around them the truth.”  
“Well in that case, once I’ve conquered this world, everyone can be attracted to who they want with no repercussions.”  
She smiled. “Thank you, my lord. But how will you do it?”  
He smiled at her. “Just you wait.”  
She huffed a laugh and shook her head. “I’m really following a one of a kind king.”


	21. The landlady’s boxes

It was just like any other day at the Devil’s Castle. Urushihara was surfing the web and Ashiya was groaning on the floor because of his stomach flu, so Maou suggested that he could go shopping for a change and take care of dinner.  
“Sire, yet again you shower me with your kindness. Such a hopeless servant does not deserve you,” Ashiya said humbly.  
Maou checked the fridge to see what they still had and said, “We’ve got some rice left. Maybe we could mix that with some egg.”  
Suddenly the bell rang. The person behind the door said, “Special delivery.”  
Ashiya, presuming that Urushihara had placed another order behind his back, turned to the fallen angel and said, “Son of a bastard. Did you go behind my back and place more orders online?”  
“No, I did not. And if I did I’d have them delivered while you were gone,” Urushihara said, not taking his eyes of the computer.  
“Have a nice day,” the delivery man said as he left a ton of boxes in the Devil’s Castle. The ton of boxes were a delivery from their landlord, a woman who went by the name of Shiba. There was a letter enclosed which Maou read aloud, “‘I found lots of fun things in Hawaii. Would you sell for me at the Neighbourhood Summer Association Bazaar?’ Guess we could have Chiho and Cathy over to help,” Maou suggested.  
“Cat has to work for most of the afternoon, but she could come over for now,” Urushihara said. “She’s not here yet, so guess she must still be sleepin’,” he added with a smile.  
Maou sighed. “I’ll go wake her up then. I’ll also call Chi,” he said, as he got out his phone to call his colleague while walking towards his subordinate’s room.

A bit later Maou entered the room with a sleepy looking Cathy. But the moment she saw all of the boxes, her face started exuding pure, childlike excitement.  
“Oh, this looks great. So many boxes,” she said, weaving her way through them to go to her boyfriend. “Imagine what we could build with these,” she said, pecking him on the cheek in greeting.  
“Cat, you’re inner child is showing,” Urushihara said with an loving smile.  
“And that’s a bad thing?” Cathy said with a grin.  
Moments later Chiho arrived. Maou let her in and as she also weaved through the boxes, Ashiya tried to greet her. Unfortunately, considering he was using all fours to transport himself, he knocked over some of them.  
Chiho, worried went over to Ashiya and said, “Oh, are you all right, Ashiya?”  
Thankfully the couple hadn’t been hit by the boxes and Urushihara, who was looking at something on his computer asked, “Having help is fine. I get it. But are you sure that we’re going to have enough room in here? You know with Emi coming over too.”  
“What? How do you know that she’s coming?” Maou asked confused, looking at a mask from one of the boxes.  
“Because I planted a tracker in her purse. Like forever ago,” Urushihara explained.  
“You planted a tracker in her purse?” Cathy asked amused.  
“Yeah. For seeing that she didn’t get up to anything and know when she was near,” Urushihara explained with a smile.  
“Oh, I love you,” she said, kissing him on the cheek wile hugging him from behind. Then she turned to Maou and said, “But still. My lord, I don’t think that she’s actually coming to here.”  
Unfortunately the statement was too late and Maou had already aggressively opened the door, only to find Emi knocking on Suzuno’s door and not his. Once Emi and Suzuno had been informed about the situation, they decided to move all of the boxes to Suzuno’s apartment.  
“Why should I have to help out with this weird sale? It’s not like I live here. I only came over to check on Suzuno,” Emi said in an annoyed voice.  
“Speaking of weird, Emi. I don’t understand why you feel like I need to be checked on,” Suzuno said.  
“Cat and I are heading back to our place,” Urushihara said, sneakily planting a tracker in Suzuno’s sandals.  
“You’re both staying here,” Maou said.  
“Please,” Cathy said, looking at Maou with puppy dog eyes. “You know I still have to eat, right?”  
“What kind of person do you think I am?” Maou said strictly. “You’re staying here. And it’s not like Urushihara can cook you anything.”  
“Maybe not.” She looked towards Suzuno. “D’ya have anything I can eat?”  
Suzuno went to her fridge and gave Cathy some leftover noodles. “Thanks,” she said, digging in while sitting next to Urushihara.  
“We need to know what we’re selling,” Maou said, opening the first box. And so everyone looked through the boxes.  
“I didn’t think our landlady could freak me out more than she already has, but what is she doing with a bikini top like this?” Urushihara wondered, holding up a really big bikini top.  
“I think it’s really cute,” Chiho said.  
“Yes. I think I’ll get one,” Emi said.  
“Doubt it will fit,” Urushihara said. This comment got Emi’s attention and she threw a little doll at his head. Just before it could hit him however, Cathy caught it with her chopsticks and said with a smile, “You really shouldn’t be throwing stuff like that. Someone could get hurt.”  
Emi just stared speechlessly at Cathy, making her smile in satisfaction.  
Maou opened another box and found something more interesting than little trinkets. “What? There’s food too?” he asked surprised. Along with some juice that the landlady wanted all of them to drink together.  
“I’ll go get some cups,” Chiho offered.  
“You know where they are right?” Maou asked.  
“I think so,” Chiho said, a she got up and went to the Devil’s Castle.  
While Chiho was getting the cups, Maou was trying to open the drink with much difficulty.  
“I don’t believe that’s how you open it,” Suzuno said unsurely.  
“Watch your eyes everyone. That cork’s going to fly,” Emi commented.  
Maou finally managed to open the bottle, but half of the drink sprayed out onto Suzuno.  
“What is your problem?” Emi asked angrily and offered a napkin to Suzuno. “Here this will help some,” she said.  
“I really am sorry,” Maou apologised.  
“Well, this has been fun and all, but I have to leave,” Cathy said suddenly, putting away her empty tray.  
“What? Now already?” Urushihara said pouting.  
“Sorry, sweetie. But this was going to happen eventually. I can’t miss work,” Cathy said apologetically.  
“Or can you?” he asked suggestively.  
She huffed a laugh and shook her head. “No, Hanzou. But it can’t go wrong with what we have planned for tonight,” Cathy said smiling at her boyfriend.  
“Guess it can’t,” Urushihara said with a small smile.  
“Goodbye then,” Cathy said, softly kissing Urushihara.  
“Goodbye.”  
With that, Cathy exited the room.  
Seconds later the door opened and Chiho entered with enough mugs for all and they sat down and drank.

While they were waiting for the glasses, Cathy excited the room and came face to face with Chiho.  
“Cathy. Are you leaving already?” Chiho asked.  
“Yes. Gotta work. Um, you only seem to have five glasses,” Cathy said, noticing the glasses on the board that Chiho was carrying.  
“Yes. I could only find five,” Chiho admitted.  
“Which means King Satan probably won’t want to give any to Lucifer. Wait here a sec,” Cathy said and ran down the stairs. A few seconds later she opened the door again to the hallway with a glass in her hand. “Here you go. This will do it. You can tell them that if they want to keep it they can or they can just give it back later.”  
“Um... thanks,” Chiho said, surprised at the fact that Cathy was fine with running down those slippery stairs.  
“No problem. Gotta run. Have fun drinking that juice. Bye.”  
“Goodbye.”


	22. Revelations

And apart from everything else, it turned out that there was more to Mitsuki Sarue than he first let on, because in reality he was an archangel called Sariel. He had come to Earth to take back Emi’s sword – Better Half – since the Church thought that it no longer should be in possession of a mere human and definitely not now that she no longer wanted anything to do with them.  
On the day of the summer bazaar, with the help of Chiho, Suzuno and Emi Maou set everything up and left for work. Once he had gone Suzuno noticed a white feather floating downwards and went to check out what was going on. It was Sariel and he said, “Why do you waist time with silly festival preparations while you should be carrying out your objective. If the Devil regains his magic, it will be too late.”  
“I know,” Suzuno said.  
“I believe we are past hesitation. Your hands have been thoroughly stained with blood already, have they not? For the last time, Bell. You have a job to finish. Kill the Devil.”  
Suzuno closed her eyes, thinking for a minute and then finally said, “He shall die. I swear it.”  
Later that evening Chiho and Emi found her again. Then the trio decided to head back in the same direction. The conversation suddenly took a sharp turn when Suzuno suddenly told Chiho that she shouldn’t be associating with Maou any longer, which got a shocked reaction from Emi. Then the truth behind who Suzuno really was, was revealed and she said that the best course of action would be to erase Chiho’s memories so she could kill Maou without any interference. Chiho firmly disagreed with this and ended up having an argument with Suzuno. Eventually Emi managed to stop it and they parted ways with Suzuno. But not much further they were suddenly attacked by a figure wearing all black, who revealed himself to be Sariel. He managed to take down Emi with ease and Suzuno put Chiho to sleep. Then the pair were taken by Sariel to his desired spot where he planned on taking the Sacred Sword from Emi.

While Maou was having his break, he checked his phone and noticed that Chiho had called, who had called him during the sudden attack. Then he got a call from her mum asking whether she was with him. This unnerved Maou so he decided to call up Urushihara to see whether he knew anything.  
“Have I seen Chiho? Sorry dude, she hasn’t been by here. While I’ve got you, I investigated that SFC place and for a chicken joint it smells fishy.”  
“What does that mean?” Maou asked confused.  
“You said that the manager’s name was Mitsuki Sarue, right? That name was not on their employee list anywhere.”  
“Seriously?”  
“Yeah, the data’s been manipulated.”  
“That tracker that you planted on Emi, is it still on her? Can you tell me where she is at the moment?”  
“Gimme just a sec,” Urushihara said, sitting back down and clicking open the tracking program on his computer. “That’s creepy, she’s moving in a straight line, through buildings. Wait I’m wrong, it’s not Emilia, it’s Suzuno.”  
“Where’s she headed?”  
“Looks like ... Government Building?!” Urushihara said shocked.  
“Thanks,” Maou said, but before he could hang up Urushihara said, “Wait, dude, you want me to call Cat?”  
“No, she has hardly have any magic left. And she’s also at work now.”  
“You serious, dude? She’s your bodyguard and likes to play the part at times. And I know she’d love to get into a fight like this.”  
“I know. I’ll call her if I need her help,” he said and hung up. Then he grabbed a broom form the closet and rode off towards the government building on his bike. Once he arrived at the building he noticed that a magical barrier had been put up and took it down with his remaining magic. Then suddenly Suzuno came falling out of the air and landed on Dullahan brandishing a war hammer. Then she started attacking Maou, but instead of fighting, Maou had no choice but to dodge the attacks. Eventually one of the attacks made contact and made him fall to the floor, which made Suzuno ask him why he hadn’t stopped the attack. He admitted that he had no powers left. Since it didn’t look like Suzuno would be attacking again, Maou told her that he was going to go free Chiho and Emi.  
“It’s no use. You can’t defeat him. Not the way you are now.”  
“Great. So you are working with someone. Who is it?” Maou asked, patting himself down.  
“The archangel Sariel.”  
“Lovely. But thanks,” he said, loosening up his muscles. “Emi couldn’t take him down either.”  
“The moon is his source. The closer he gets to it, the more powerful he is,” Suzuno explained. “With no magic, you don’t have a chance. It would be pointless to even try.”  
“So what? Just gonna run?”  
“I don’t get why you won’t,” Suzuno said.  
“Because it’s my job. Chi works under me. I have to make sure she’s looked after. Plus I don’t abandon my people and run. I do have some dignity left. And let’s be real, you’re counting on me too, right?  
“To do what?” Suzuno asked in a small voice.  
“To put the screw to your pal Sariel,” Maou said with a demonic smile and went off to the top of the building.  
_Why? Why would a demon like him act that way? He’s supposed to be the bad guy. If caring for his friends makes him evil_ , then so am I, Suzuno thought and went to the top of the building as well.  
Once Maou arrived at the top of the building he saw that Chiho was tied up with ropes around her hands and legs, Emi was being held up by magical spheres on either arm and Sarue in his angelic garbs. They started battling it out. Even though it would be better described as a one sided fight, with Sarue flicking orbs at Maou making him fly all over the place. Then suddenly the moon grew and Sarue said that he could feel himself getting more powerful and Maou was being pulled up along with the ground he was standing on. And much to everyone else’s surprise there was suddenly a red gust enveloping Maou, meaning that he was gaining magic. Now it was time for the real fight to begin.

While Cathy was cleaning up, she suddenly noticed lots of people being scared around her. She smiled intrigued. _So you decided to do something anyway, Sariel._ She made her face pale and staggered around.  
“Cathy, are you all right?” Angelica asked worriedly.  
She looked up weakly at Angelica. “Dunno why. Just suddenly feel like crap,” she said in a small voice.  
Angelica put her hand on Cathy’s forehead, which Cathy had made hotter, and said concerned, “You’re burning up. I’ll tell Miss Ito that you had to go home because of illness. Don’t worry. I’ll even call a cab if you want.”  
Cathy gave a weak smile. “Don’t worry. I can do it.” Then she went to the changing rooms, got dressed and teleported over to the Government Building, where she had felt the battle going on.  
She noticed that Maou was being contained by rocks which had come from the building and Sariel, in his angelic garbs, laughing like a maniac because he thought that he was crushing the King of all Demons. She looked at Maou with a smile. “Want help?”  
Maou, now collecting his magic from all of the fear of the humans down below, said dryly, “Now you’re asking. Nah,” he said with a smile. “I’ll be fine.”  
“Have fun.”  
Sariel looked from one demon to the other. “If you think you can defeat me without her help, you are dead wrong.”  
Cathy laughed chillingly. “Relax, Sariel. See me not helping him as a mercy.” She smiled at him. “And he can easily defeat you.” She walked over to Chiho and knelt by her with her dagger out. “Don’t worry, Chiho Sasaki. You’re safe now,” she said and cut her loose.  
Now Satan was free and it became time for the real fight to begin. After Satan royally kicked Sariel’s butt and sent him away through a Gate, he went over to the others.  
Cathy looked her king over once and saw that he hadn’t been seriously injured during the encounter with Sariel. But there was something that made her smile at him amused. “So, my lord, now that everything’s over; mind telling me why you’re only wearing your underwear?”  
Maou made a shocked noise and said, “Um...well...the thing is...”  
“Yes,” she said, smiling at him entertained.  
“If I damage my uniform in a non-work situation, I have to pay for it.”  
“So you thought it’d be better to strip?” She laughed.  
“Don’t say it like that,” Maou groaned.  
“Sure. I guess I’ll have to go look for it.”  
“Well you don’t have to.” Maou said. “Even though you could while I repair everything.”  
“Sure thing, my lord.” She said and flew to the ground where she searched for her king’s uniform. And so Maou repaired all of the buildings that had been damaged during the fight.


	23. The salesman

The next day Maou and Ashiya took some time off for personal business, but before that could happen Maou found out that Sarue had appeared in an MgRonald’s closet and now he was infatuated with the MgRonald’s manager, Mayumi Kisaki. The personal business was getting a temp job that paid by the day so that he could pay off the tracking devices that Urushihara had brought. Cathy had suggested paying for them, but much to her irritation since that they were debiting his account, he couldn’t see the point and it could also bring her into monetary problems. Now Maou was working on a construction site, which Emi and Chiho, who had followed him, feared would be the new Devil’s Castle.  
He noticed them and said, “Girls, I can see you.”  
So they decided to go over and ask what was going on.  
“We just needed to get our hands on some money fast so we could pay off a couple of tracking devises,” Maou explained.  
“Tracking devices?” Emi asked confused.  
“Urushihara brought them online and decided to hide one tracker in your purse and the other one in Suzuno’s sandals.”  
Emi made a disgusted noise and started digging through her purse until she found the device, then she started accumulating energy in her left hand, ready to get out her sacred sword.  
Maou shocked, got up and said, “Stop. This is not the place to whip out your sacred sword. And remember they did help when Sariel kidnapped you. So don’t be so mad.”  
“I’ll kill him!” Emi shouted as she stomped the tracker on the floor.  
“Anyway,” Maou continued, “they’re going to debit our account for those next week and right now we’re completely broke. I won’t get my MgR’s check until after they charge me. So then Ashiya decided that he was going to get one of those temp jobs that pay him by the day.”  
“Oh, so that’s why he asked for time off,” Chiho concluded.  
“Of course. I took time off my job to temp with him so I could help him out if things got dicey, but it looks like the agency sent Ashiya off to work somewhere else.”  
“If that’s all it was, then why’d you feel the need to hide it from Chiho?” Emi asked.  
“Well, see,” Maou said, scratching his cheek. “I was worried that if I told her about it she would wind up feeling responsible since the trackers we’re working to pay for are what helped me rescue her,” Maou admitted. “I’m sorry Chi,” Maou apologised sincerely.  
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that you didn’t decide to go back to Ente Isla or anything,” Chiho said in a cheery voice.  
“Ok. So what’s the deal with the truck load of boxes you had delivered to your house?” Emi asked, wanting to get to the bottom of the mysterious delivery that she had seen earlier today.  
“What? What boxes? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Maou said confused.

They all went back to the Devil’s Castle and found Urushihara standing in front of a big blue sheet, clearly hiding something.  
“What boxes? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Give me a break guys,” Urushihara said nervously. “All this stuff’s been here since before I moved in.”  
“You know that’s not the truth, you liar,” Maou said accusingly. “Now get out of my way,” Maou said, pushing the small demon out of the way.  
He pulled the blue sheet off the boxes and looked into them. The boxes were filled with feather beds, fire extinguishers and water purifiers.  
“Urushihara, what is all of this?” Maou asked in a menacing tone.  
“You know it’s a funny story actually,” Urushihara said nervously. “I did some online research and apparently what happened is fraud acquisition.”  
“Sounds expensive,” Maou said.  
“Yes. Someone knocks on the door and offers to buy your stuff, but instead they end up pressuring you into buying a bunch of their crap,” Emi explained angrily.  
“Well on a positive note he did buy the external hard drive from me,” Urushihara said. “Then he kinda made me buy all this,” he said pointing to the boxes.  
Maou put his hand against the wall next to Urushihara’s head and said menacingly, “How much. How much did it cost?”  
“About what you make in a month.”  
Maou went in to slap Urushihara, but was promptly stopped by Cathy who appeared there, who let out a low, threatening growl. “Don’t be stupid, King Satan. Hurting him will only get you into trouble.”  
“Cathy,” Maou said surprised, pulling back his hand. “What are you doing here?”  
She looked him dead in the eyes. “I have the rest of the afternoon free, so I wanted to spend it with Lucifer. ’Parently won’t be so easy now. What’s up?”  
“Tell you when we’re in,” Maou said, opening the door to the Devil’s Castle.  
They looked up the details of the place that had made Urushihara buy those products and found out that it was called Deluxe International Holdings, which already sounded dodgy. Maou decided to give them a call and found out that not only had Urushihara been forced to buy something, he had been scammed and the company refused to take back any incomplete sets. After a small discussion Maou finally hung up.  
“Go there in person?” Emi suggested.  
“Go there in person,” Maou agreed.  
“In that case I’m coming with you,” Cathy said, getting up.  
Maou looked usury at his bodyguard. “If you promise not to hurt anybody there.”  
She smiled at him roguishly. “I’ll try.”  
Maou sighed. He knew this was the best he was going to get considering the circumstances and that she wouldn’t hurt anyone unless she deemed it absolutely necessary. “Fine.”

They went to the building site and were surprisingly enough greeted by Ashiya. Maou explained the circumstances to his loyal subordinate, making Ashiya freak out. Then his supervisor arrived, asking why everyone was yelling.  
“Uh…Sir, you’re here,” Ashiya said nervously.  
“Do we have a problem?” he asked confidently.  
“Yeah. You’re the jerk in charge, huh,” Maou said disdainfully.  
“Now, we don’t have to be rude. Why don’t talk this over calmly instead? I’m sure this was explained over the phone, sir. But you can find all of the same info on the provisions of the sighed contract.”  
“What do you mean provisions? I’ve never seen this contract,” Maou said with a hint of ire.  
“Oh? Well you received a copy. I really must ask you to follow the rules.”  
Maou let out an irritated sigh. “Rules, my left foot. This whole thing is a scam!”  
“All participants fully consented to the arrangement.”  
The way the man talked and considering what Urushihara had said earlier, made Cathy scowl at the man.  
“Consented?! Consented?! Who’d be dumb enough to buy seven feather beds for one tiny apartment?!” Maou said angrily.  
“Someone who lives with you,” he said, then put a cigarette in his mouth.  
“You bastard,” Maou said with indignation. “You’re being smug because you think we can’t do anything about this.”  
The man blew the smoke from his cigarette and turned back to Maou. “I didn’t sell any defective merchandise, so you’ve got no reason or right to complain.” He started walking towards Maou. “Again, we have a legally binding contract. So I don’t mind settling this outside,” he said right up in Maou’s face with a smile.  
“Gladly,” Cathy said, coming just as close to the man.  
Maou looked towards the woman who had just been sitting silently next to him moments ago and noticed that the look in her eyes was one of a predator who wouldn’t give her prey any mercy. He put his arm between her and the man. “No.”  
“No?” she repeated in a way that would send most sane men running.  
“We’ll figure something else out.”  
She squinted suspiciously at him. “Really. And if we don’t. Do I then get free rein?”  
“I’ll see then.”  
She sighed, stood up, glared one last time at the man, who was looking at this strange woman in bewilderment, and exited. Seconds later the tree others were behind her.

On the way home Ashiya suggested, “Perhaps the best course of action would be to consult the police.”  
“Nah, you can’t rely on cops to take care of this. Sure, he’s crooked but there’s still a contract and we have no proof it was a scam,” Emi put in.  
“I can make him tell them the truth,” Cathy said, having gone from her usual cheerful, threatening self to a killing calm that made her companions tread carefully with her.  
“I doubt they would allow that.”  
“Dammit. How are ever going to get all the money together to pay for that crap?” Maou asked annoyed.  
Cathy gave her king a sideways glance and said, “If you had let me take it outside, maybe this would no longer be an issue.”  
“You know that wouldn’t have changed anything.”  
She snarled. “Never know something ’till you’ve tried it.”  
After letting his colleague from another world finish, Ashiya said to Maou, “My apologies, Sire, I do believe I am partly to blame. After all I have been remising my duties as his guardian.”  
This statement made Emi stop. “His guardian,” she repeated. “Hold up a sec, you guys, how old is Urushihara again?”  
The trio looked at Emi confused.  
“Not as Ente Isla age. I mean here, in this world,” she clarified.  
“He’s 18, right?” Cathy said, looking at Maou for confirmation.  
“Yeah. I made him 18 on all the official records,” Maou said, thinking back to when he registered his demon general.  
“In that case, I think I know a trick that could help you demons out,” she said.  
“Help us? You mean as in not having to fork over money we don’t have?” Maou asked desperately.  
“Tell us this trick of yours, wench,” Ashiya demanded.  
“It’s called cooling off.”  
And with this method they managed to negate the contract. Cathy considered punching the one responsible, but after careful consideration decided against it because it would cause a scene and draw attention, which wasn’t really something the Devil’s Castle needed first thing in the morning.

Later that day after work Cathy went to SFC to see how things were going with Sarue. Maou had told her about Sarue becoming infatuated with Kisaki and that she shouldn’t worry about it, but she just needed to be sure that everything was fine and he wouldn’t cause any more trouble. She still had some extra magic left from the fear caused by the closing in moon after all.  
She entered the fast-food restaurant and walked right up to the counter, where fortunately no customers were. She eyed the employees and noticed that the man she was looking for wasn’t serving at the counter today. She went over to the friendliest looking employee and asked him about the archangel.  
“Mister Sarue is in his office at the moment, ma’am.”  
“There,” she said, pointing towards a door around the back.  
“Yes. I can fetch him if you want.”  
“Nah,” she said, going towards the employee entrance at the end of the counters. “It’ll be easier if I go to see him.”  
“Wait,” he said nervously, trying to stop this strange woman from going near his manager. “What do you want with him?”  
She gave him a careless smile. “Just need to talk to him ’bout some stuff. Don’t worry, we’re old friends.” _Pretty much a lie. But whatevs. Not like he knows, or Sariel will deny._ As she opened the door, the man looked around nervously – unsure of what to do. She smiled at him kindly. “Don’t worry ’bout it. If he gets angry at you or something, tell him I forced your hand. He’ll believe that, no problem.”  
“Um…ok.”  
Cathy walked towards the staff area and found the door labelled ‘Manager’, with underneath the name ‘Mitsuki Sarue’. She knocked on it for the hell of it and heard Sarue’s extravagant voice say, “Enter.” She snickered and opened the door.  
When Sarue noticed who he had let into his office, he pretty much leapt into the furthest corner of the room. Cathy laughed. “Relax, Sariel. I’m not here to assassinate you or anything. If I were, you know I wouldn’t’ve let you see me. I just want to talk,” she said with a confident smile.  
Sarue cautiously neared the fallen angel and sat down on his chair behind his desk. “About what?”  
Cathy sat down on the other chair and faced Sarue with a grin. “Oh, you know, Mayumi Kisaki.”  
“My goddess,” he said excitedly. “Of course I would love to talk about the extreme beauty of my goddess. But I don’t see why you would want to talk to me about that, Catarina.”  
An amused gleam entered Cathy’s eyes. _King Satan wasn’t kidding when he said that Sariel’s now infatuated with her._ “Not in that way, Sariel. I just wanted to be sure that your feelings for her are real.”  
“Of course they are,” Sariel said ardently. “As real as your feelings for Lucifer.”  
Cathy’s smile turned intrigued. “What do you know about my feelings for Lucifer?”  
“That you’ve loved him from even back when the both of you were still in heaven and even now still.”  
She cocked her head. “Really? Now that’s interesting. Didn’t think anyone apart from my best friend would’ve noticed. Mainly since I hadn’t. Not until after I fell that is.”  
The archangel nodded, understanding who she was talking about. “But it’s true.”  
She leant back in the chair, carrying a true air of ease. “If you say so. But that’s beside the point now. You say that you love Mayumi Kisaki and ’parently that’s true. Does that now also mean that you will no longer be any threat to any of us?”  
“Yes. Since the Devil King works under my goddess, it would be bad to go after him.”  
Cathy snorted. “True that.” She lifted herself out her chair. “That’s all. Bye, Sariel.”  
Sariel, relieved that talking was everything Cathy wanted to do, stood up and said, “Bye, Catarina.”


	24. “Daddy, Mommy!”

It was a hot summer’s day and Chiho had decided to bring leftover ice cream from her relatives over to the Devil’s Castle. However Suzuno didn’t want to eat the ice cream straight away, but wanted to build a bonfire with wood instead, which Maou was strongly against, because he had a better idea: using earthenware baking dish and old newspapers. And so they made a small welcoming fire in the garden. While Chiho, Maou and Suzuno were talking about how to do a proper ceremony, they were informed by Urushihara, – who had planted the webcam video on the windowsill – that Emi was nearing. When Maou asked what she was doing there, Emi said that she had come over to take Suzuno shopping for household appliances and mobile phones.  
“Well I ought to prepare for necessary appliances for my daily life during this prolonged sojourn, as I realised my investigation was severely out of date, I desired Emilia to come with me,” Suzuno admitted.  
“So that’s how it is,” Chiho said.  
“Then again, I could end this now if I decided to cut down this destitute Demon King over here,” Emi said glaring at Maou. “Though I did agree not to do that a while ago.”  
“Good to know that you’re keeping your word, Emilia,” Cathy growled in Emi’s ear, which sent shivers down her spine. Then she turned to the balcony and said, “Sweetie, I heard the mention of ice cream. Is it true that you have some up there?”  
“Yes, look,” Urushihara said, holding up the box of ice cream.  
“Yum,” Cathy said, preparing to go upstairs.  
Suddenly a white flash of light appeared in the sky and a gate opened.  
Everyone tried to avert their eyes, but for some, like Urushihara it was too late and his eyes started burning.  
“Chi, grab a tree!” Maou shouted to his friend who he was holding. “Otherwise you’ll be sucked into the gate!”  
“No...something’s coming out!” Suzuno noticed.  
A big apple started falling from the sky.  
“What the... A fruit?” Maou asked confused.  
“But...it’s huge,” Emi observed.  
Cathy just stared at it speechless. _What the hell?_  
Once it had hit the ground, Maou and Emi started fighting about what should happen to the mysterious fruit and Emi finally said, “It’s decided then. I will cut you down right here.”  
This snapped Cathy back to reality and said menacingly as she got out Predator, “So, you want to fight? I’ve been looking forward to this.”  
“Cathy, wait!” Maou yelled. “Put your swords away. People are watching.”  
“But it’s my duty to protect you, my lord,” Cathy said, mock pouting. “As long as her sword’s out, mine will be as well.”  
Maou sighed. “Such a pain.” Just as Emi brought down her sword Maou jumped in front of Cathy and held up the fruit in protection.  
“King Satan?”  
“Chill. Ok. At least this way there probably won’t be a prolonged fight.”  
“You know, you’re also a pain right?”  
Then much to everyone’s surprise the apple sprouted two small arms and Maou dropped it in shock.  
Then it started rolling around on the ground, chasing Emi.  
“W-what is it doing?” Emi asked confused, backing up against the fence. “I don’t wanna!”  
Cathy started laughing. “Oh, this is great. I have to say, it’s nice to know that out of everything in the world fruits are attracted to you.”  
Then the apple started unravelling and revealed a toddler, more specifically a girl in a plain dress, silver hair with a purple streak and purple eyes. She also had a mysterious purple crescent shape on her forehead. And then it disappeared, which made her sneeze, rub her eyes and suddenly fall unconscious.  
But the crescent shape had been there long enough for Cathy and everyone else to notice. All this made her frown confused at the small girl. _What’s she doing here? I know I should know about her, but my stupid ass brain doesn’t want to work._  
“Cathy, you coming?” Maou asked, heading back to the apartment with Emi and Suzuno who was now carrying the child.  
“Yes, my lord.” Then she noticed that Chiho was still standing by the tree in a trance of happiness. “Hey, Chiho Sasaki. Let’s go. People are coming.”  
“Ok,” she said and followed Cathy upstairs.

They all arrived in the Devil’s Castle and saw that the girl had been put on a blanket.  
The apartment was silent until Cathy said in a soft voice, admiring the girl, “Wow. She really is cute.”  
“Yeah.” _It couldn’t be. They’d know and she would not just abandon her child, no matter what_ , Maou concluded internally.  
The following awkward silence was broken when Emi suddenly said, “Ok. Well, I need to go.”  
“Wait a sec!” Maou shouted, grabbing onto Emi’s leg.  
Then the usual bickering about what should happen started, until finally the toddler woke up.  
Cathy who had been admiring the toddler’s cuteness said excitedly to everyone, “Hey, she’s up.” Then she turned towards the toddler and said, “Hey, there, little one.”  
“’Ello.”  
_She can speak._ “Do you know what your name is?” she asked in an unusually soft voice.  
“Alas Ramus,” the girl replied.  
“Wow. That’s quite a special name. Do you know where you came from?”  
The other members of the Devil’s Castle were shocked into silence by this never before seen true kindness of the demoness apart from Urushihara who knew all too well how kind his girlfriend could be when she wanted and Maou who had received some in his younger days. Also the fact that her killing aura, which now was up no matter what, had subsided was quite surprising.  
“Yef... Home,” Alas Ramus replied.  
_Dammit. Now what?_  
Maou looked at Cathy and saw the cogs turning in the demoness’ head. “Hey, Cathy, is it all right if I ask the questions?”  
“Sure. Don’t see why not.”  
Maou sighed. “Ok. Alas Ramus. Um...oh home? Well, yeah I bet you did... But like, where is home?”  
“Home... home. I’um know.”  
“Oh... ok... Do you have a mother or a father?” Maou asked, getting to the important question.  
“Mo... fa?  
“Well, I mean your Mommy or Daddy. Can you tell me about them?” Maou asked, clarifying his previous question.  
“Daddy is ... Satan,” Alas Ramus replied.  
This statement sent the whole room into shock.  
Chiho, who was now fully recovered from the incident at the tree, was the first to say something. “Maou, you-you-you had a wife and kid?”  
“Whoa, whoa, hang on a sec, Chi! I’ve never had either of those!” Maou said defensively.  
“Is-is that true, your Demonic Highness?!”  
“Oh, come on, Ashiya,” Maou said, having to even defend himself against his most loyal subordinate.  
“A child out of wedlock would be earth shattering news! She must be provided for at once to prepare her for the throne! And yet, you’ve kept her a secret for this long, my liege?” Ashiya shouted, pulling his lord really close.  
“Don’t be stupid, Alciel,” Cathy said, grabbing Ashiya by his shirt and pulling him off their king. “I was with Lord Satan most of the time and I would’ve known if something like this happened.”  
Ashiya stared at her accusingly, making her sneer at the demon general and twist his shirt around to strangle him. “If you’re suggesting that I cheated on Lucifer with him than you’re even more stupid than I thought.”  
“Cathy, stop,” Maou said, trying to stop his subordinate from killing the other. “No one would believe that.” He looked at Urushihara for support who in turn said sternly, “Catarina, don’t. You know it’d be useless to kill him now.”  
She gave her boyfriend a serious look and let go of Ashiya.  
Then Alas Ramus got up and stumbled towards Maou. When she reached him, she grabbed his hand and sniffed it and happily said, “...Daddy.”  
“W-Wait, no!” Maou said desperately. “W-Wait, wait! Who’s your mum? Your mum?” Maou asked, hoping that the answer would help get to the bottom of this mystery.  
“Mommy?” Alas Ramus asked first and then pointing at Emi, “Mommy.”  
“Um m-m-m-mmm me?” Emi asked surprised.  
And the fact that Alas Ramus was pointing at Maou and Emi and saying, “Daddy!” and, “Mommy” definitely didn’t help.


	25. Adoption?

Ashiya, who was still recovering from the near murder, was the first to react, even though saying react would be putting it lightly, he straight up fainted.  
“Ashiya, don’t conk out on me! You ok?!” Urushihara said, shaking Ashiya.  
Emi and Maou both stared at Alas Ramus and Emi shouted, “What’re you talking about?! There’s no way I could be her mother.”  
“Yeah, and I don’t recall fathering a kid, all right!”  
Cathy on the other hand looked curiously at the child. _So Emilia’s also connected to her in some way._  
This statement made Alas Ramus upset and she started crying. This got Cathy’s attention and she went over to the child and said disapprovingly to the newly anointed parents, “You know you two don’t have to shout like that. Even if what she said is wrong.” Then she picked her up and started shushing her but after a while Alas Ramus started reaching for her mommy, so Cathy passed her on.  
“You people haven’t forgotten already, have you? This child stopped my holy sword. She can’t be just some normal baby, all right?” Emi asked, accepting the child begrudgingly.  
“Yes, Emilia,” Suzuno agreed, “but saying so achieves little for us. Think about this child, seeking out the only mother she knows in life.”  
“Bell, quit lecturing me like an advice columnist,” Emi said back.  
“You should be happy for this, Yusa,” Chiho suddenly said. “I almost wish that I could take you place.”  
“For different reasons I bet.”  
Maou said to Emi who had managed to calm Alas Ramus down with a hug, “Not that it matters, but you give a mean hug, you know that?”  
“You realise that’s just tightening the noose around your neck, right,” Emi retorted, glaring at Maou, which also resulted in a glare from Cathy who was now sitting next to Urushihara.  
Urushihara suddenly realised something and raised his hand. “Hey, um if I can as a question... How come she knew Maou was Satan? Cat and I are one thing, but Maou the human looks pretty different from Maou the demon,” he pointed out.  
“Don’t ask me. She smelled my hand just now... Maybe there’s something she picked up...?”  
“Dude, the only thing on your hands is MgRonald’s fry oil,” Urushihara said, which made Cathy giggle.  
“So what? That smells great!” Maou defended and then went on to say, “I mean ‘Satan’ is a pretty common name where I come from... But she just plopped right down here and called me that. I kinda doubt she’s referring to anyone else.”  
“So-so do you have any recollection of Alas Ramus, then, Maou?” Chiho asked, face still red.  
“Chi this isn’t a custody battle. Here’s the simplest theory: someone sent me Alas Ramus for a reason,” Maou concluded.  
“And we have no idea whether it was a friend or foe...” Emi added.  
“Nope. And either way, you’re involved in this,” Maou said to Emi.  
“Wh-what do you mean by that?” Chiho asked.  
“This kid stopped my sword. She reacted to me when I had it out. That’s all I need to know. You remember how Sariel wanted his hands on my sword, Chiho. I’d be crazy to think this wasn’t related somehow.”  
“By the way, ‘Alas Ramus’ is a human name... from a language spoken in Ente Isla,” Suzuno said.  
“Oh?” Chiho wondered.  
“‘Alas’ means ‘wing’. ‘Ramus’ means ‘branch’. Both are terms from the centurient age,” Suzuno explained. “She has parents in Ente Isla, ones who loved their child enough to give her a deeply meaningful name. We’ve got this kid, Alas Ramus, whom we know nothing about... so we just have to wait for this friend, or foe, or whomever to show up.”  
“See? I said that it was a special name,” Cathy said, nodding at Suzuno.  
“Oh!” Maou said, noticing Alas Ramus’ silence. “Did she fall asleep? She’s been pretty quiet. Kind of looks like a normal baby now, huh,” Maou said, poking Alas Ramus’ cheek.  
“Don’t do that. We just got her to sleep,” Emi said.  
“Aww, you really got it good, Yusa,” Chiho said pouting.  
“Too obvious, Chiho,” Suzuno said.  
“Well... I guess the next question is who’s going to take care of Alas Ramus?” Urushihara said.  
“Well, I can’t take her in,” Emi said. “I live alone and have a job.”  
Chiho noticed that Maou was acting distracted and asked, “Maou?”  
“There’s one thing I’m not quite okay with... two, actually. Maybe I’m just over thinking things, but why didn’t she say ‘Mommy is Emilia’ too...?” Maou said and then unexpectedly, much to everyone’s shock, “We’re going to keep Alas Ramus in the Devil’s Castle.”


	26. Emi’s present

That evening Alas Ramus stayed at the Devil’s Castle and Chiho stopped by the next day with the necessities for a toddler. While Maou was at work Chiho and Suzuno decided to bring Alas Ramus over for a while so she wouldn’t be cooped up all day.  
Later when Cathy came to visit, she noticed that the child was nowhere to be seen and Urushihara informed her that she’d been taken to the MgRonald by the station. Before she left, she gave the unconscious Ashiya – who had fainted because he had drunk some Holy Vitamin β – a pen moustache.  
She arrived at the MgRonald and saw and interesting scene: Sarue confessing his sins to Suzuno. So she decided to listen in while she waited for her king and his adoptive child to appear again. When everyone finally appeared, Alas Ramus shouted happily, “Cat-Sis!”  
“Alas Ramus,” she said with a smile, taking the small child out of Maou’s arms.  
On the way back to Devil’s Castle, Cathy asked Alas Ramus smiling down at her, “You have fun with Daddy?”  
“Yeah. And Chi-Sis and Daddy’s mana’er,” Alas Ramus said.  
“So you met, Miss Kisaki. I heard Daddy’s scared of her. Isn’t that funny?”  
Alas Ramus nodded ardently.  
“Cathy, what are you telling her?” Maou asked disapprovingly from behind her.  
“Only the truth, my lord,” Cathy said innocently.  
“As long as you don’t share too much of that,” Maou grumbled.  
“Of course not, my lord.” She turned faced Maou. “So what’s up with Sariel? He’s become much fatter than I remember.”  
“He’s been visiting MgRonald every day now since he fell out of the utility room.”  
“To see his goddess?” she asked entertained.  
“Yeah,” Maou agreed.

They all arrived at the Devil’s Castle and noticed that Emi was heading that way as well.  
“Mommy!” Alas Ramus shouted.  
“Alas Ramus,” Emi said as she took the child out of Cathy’s arms.  
“So what are you doing here?” Cathy sighed.  
“There’s something we have to talk about,” Emi said and headed for the stairs.  
“Such a pain,” Maou and Cathy said in union.  
Once everyone was inside and after Ashiya gave Cathy a mouthful about drawing a moustache on her face, which she still didn’t seem to regret, they discovered that apparently Maou had six passes to the Tokyo Big-Egg Town and Emi had received six discount coupons.  
“Tokyo Big-Egg Town... Is that an amusement park? What better place to bring a child? I think you should go with her,” Suzuno said.  
Maou picked up on Emi’s silence and said, “Emi... Should I read this as you accepting your role in the whole thing?”  
“I-in what...?” Emi asked nervously.  
“Out with Mommy and Daddy,” Alas Ramus said happily.  
Maou sighed at that statement. “Hey, Alas Ramus. I wanna take you somewhere, but is it ok if Mommy doesn’t come along?”  
“No! Together!” she shouted with determination.  
“Well, how about you go with Mommy and I don’t go with you?” Maou asked, hoping on getting out of having to spend the day with his nemesis.  
“No!”  
“Yusa,” Chiho suddenly said. “Would you mind going together? For her sake?”  
“Uh? Chiho?” Emi asked unsurely.  
“Just think of it as keeping an eye on Maou. And what if there’s some other bad guy like Mister Sariel out there...and he tries to go after Alas Ramus? Doesn’t the idea of Maou carrying her all around Tokyo make you feel nervous?”  
“You truly would make a fine attorney, Chiho,” Suzuno praised.  
“Indeed. I would almost be willing to go with her. Whether I’d keep her alive is another question,” Cathy added with a small smile.  
“But what about you, Chiho?” Emi asked, deciding to ignore the fallen angel’s taunting.  
“Oh, I’m fine. If you’re really worried about her, you should spend as much time as you can with her... So you don’t have any regrets once it’s all over.”

After most people had left the Devil’s Castle, Ashiya begged his lord, “My liege, it is far too dangerous! I beg you to reconsider!”  
“Calm down man. You think Emi’s gonna choose now to murder me in public?”  
“Even if Emilia poses no threat... Think of Miss Sasaki’s words! What if someone comes after Alas Ramus?”  
“Look, seriously calm down! That could be true whether we go out or not, okay?” an irritated Maou responded. “What’ll we do if we keep Alas Ramus in here all day and she winds up like Urushihara?”  
“Alas Ramus is better than that! When she’s finished eating, she brings her dish to me and thanks me for the food!” Ashiya said.  
“Dude, you guys are so unfair!” Urushihara shouted; opening the closet door he was now forced to stay in.  
“But it’s true,” Cathy said with a teasing smile.  
“Don’t be stupid, Cat,” Urushihara replied with a smile.  
“I could be asking you the very same question,” she replied back with a grin, then sighed and looked towards Maou. “I really wish that I didn’t have to work that day, otherwise I would have come with you, my lord.”  
“Don’t you think that would be a bit strange? The three of us as a make belief family and you tagging along behind us.”  
“That is after all what bodyguards do in this world, my lord,” she said frowning.  
“I know. But I don’t want you missing work on my account,” Maou said finally.  
“Could still fake sick my way out of it,” she said under her breath. “If you insist, my lord. I should be heading back,” she said, hugging Alas Ramus goodbye then she got up to give Urushihara a kiss goodbye and then left.


	27. “Old man”

The day for the trip had finally arrived and even though Cathy couldn’t follow her king for his safety, Ashiya had decided to take the role for himself as his king’s bodyguard for the day. He followed Maou around until he was spotted by Chiho and then the pair along with Emi’s colleague Rika Suzuki followed the new family around the Tokyo Big Egg Town.  
After spending the first half of the day outside it was decided that they would see ‘Undercover police; Shinobi Five’ since that Alas Ramus really liked colourful things. Maou was really getting into the show, but when he turned to Alas Ramus to see what she thought of it he saw that she was staring at the colourful ninja’s like in some kind of trance. So the forced couple rushed out of the theatre. Maou went off to buy a bottle of water while Emi kept the child calm. Then suddenly a woman in white appeared and with the help of her ring with a purple stone in it managed to heal Alas Ramus. Before Emi could say anything to the woman Maou appeared and the woman disappeared. Afterwards they decided to go on the Ferris wheel and Maou explained why he had been willing to take in Alas Ramus. Once the trip was over Maou and Emi got a call from Urushihara and Suzuno respectively telling them to come back to the Devil’s Castle.

Cathy had finished her day’s work and was now back at the Devil’s Castle finally being able to spend some alone time with Urushihara. But once she opened the door to the hallway she could hear a familiar voice. _So he’s also here_ , she thought with a grin. She opened the door and said, “Didn’t think I’d see this loser so soon as well.”  
The man she had just addressed turned around and looked at her with an equally big grin, maybe even bigger as impossible as it seemed. He opened his arms for a hug and she accepted.  
“Good to see you again, Gabe.”  
“You too, Catarina.”  
Once Gabriel let go, Cathy asked, “So, why’re here? Also for Emilia’s sword, or something more?”  
He frowned at her. “Don’t you know? ’Bout the girl.”  
“Have an idea that she’s connected to heaven somehow, but can’t remember how. But there’s still just a sliiight problem. Doubt King Satan or anyone else would want to give her to you.”  
For some reason unknown to Cathy, Gabriel looked at her regrettably as he nodded intensely in understanding.  
She looked behind him and saw that Urushihara and Suzuno were currently being stopped from doing anything by Gabriel’s Heavenly Regiment. “Also, why are you men holding down my Lucifer and Bell?”  
Much to Cathy’s surprise, Gabriel didn’t answer the question, but asked one of his own. “My Lucifer?”  
“Yes, he’s mine. ’Cause he’s my boyfriend. Is it really that shocking?”  
“No,” he said, hiding the hurt that was starting to grow in his heart. “Was obvious that it’d happen, after allll. Just would’ve liked to be there when it finally happed.”  
She snorted. “Then you would’ve had to be there with us in the demon realm, you loser. And that would’ve been really weird.”  
“’Course.”  
She studied him curiously. “You seriously okay, Gabriel? ’Cause I’ll warn ya, you need all the energy you have to go up against the Devil King and Hero.”  
“I know.”

“Whoa, whoa... you didn’t say anything about visitors,” Maou said as he entered the Devil’s Castle minutes later.  
“I gotta admit, I underestimated their footwork,” Urushihara said.  
“I apologise Devil King, we were caught unaware...” Suzuno answered.  
Cathy, who had decided to go sit next to Urushihara, just shrugged while smiling in anticipation.  
“There’s no need to blame them, mm-kay? They thought enough of you to give you a buzz, after all! Oh, we aren’t doing anything too rough, ya know?” Gabriel said, having recovered from the earlier news. “It’d be best for all of us if we could talk this out, so... I’d like to avoid any trouble.”  
“Are you Gabriel?” Maou asked with an irritated smile.  
“Yes indeed! That I am! But how’d you know that? Have we met before?” Gabriel asked happily.  
“I heard that there’s this archangel who’s a major headache.”  
Cathy chuckled. “Someone said that? That’s rich.”  
“That’s just mean.” Gabriel pouted. “And not funny,” he added, looking towards Cathy.  
“Slightly yeah. I have to admit that you can be quite headachy at times.”  
“Really? When?”  
Maou cleared his throat. “Enough with the needless chit-chat. State your demands and make it quick.”  
“Well, that girl hiding behind you, for starters. And if you can Emilia’s holy sword, please.”  
_See what King Satan has to say ’bout it._  
The something else that came to Gabriel’s mind, “I ate the pizza Lucifer ordered.”  
“What were you doing during all this, Urushihara?”  
“Gabriel,” Cathy groaned.  
“I would’ve shared it with you if I knew you were coming,” Gabriel said to her.  
“Dude!” Urushihara shouted.  
“And Lucifer, right?” Cathy said with raised eyebrows, putting a hand on her boyfriend’s back to calm him down.  
Instead of answering, he turned to Maou and said, “We’ll pay for it later, mm-kay.” Gabriel suddenly got an idea. “How about this: give us the child or you’ll never see your precious pizza money again!”  
Cathy sighed and face palmed. “Geez. What is it with the men I care about? D’you really think we’d give her to you for money?” she asked, looking at him.  
“She’s right,” Maou said. “And what kind of parent would give up his daughter to get out of a pizza tab?! Besides aren’t you pretty damn late? How many days do you think she’s been here with us?”  
“We’ve been on the hunt for centuries. Cut me a little slack if we were off a tad, mm-kay? When that girl’s fragment was taken from the Devil’s Castle on Ente Isla... It was a real bummer, ya know?” Then he suddenly shouted, “Oh! Right! Cut the needless chitchat you said! Yes, yes! Are you giving us the girl or not!?”  
“Hey, Alas Ramus,” Maou said, turning to face Alas Ramus. “Do you know this old man at all? ‘Cause it sounds like he wants to take you with him.”  
“No! I haaate him!” Alas Ramus shouted.  
Cathy straightened up in surprise.  
Gabriel’s reaction on the other hand was a loud scream and then he said to Maou, “Don’t call me an old man. It hurts mm-kay.”  
She smiled at him exasperated. “We are old, Gabe. Deal with it.”  
“Malkut ‘n’ Keter ‘n’ Binah ‘n’ Cocoma... all taken away! I haaate you!” Alas Ramus screamed at Gabriel.  
“Oooh, that was uncalled for. Please don’t say that, mm-kay?” Gabriel said.  
“...I don’t know the whole story, but... If Alas Ramus says no, she’s not going anywhere,” Maou said with a smile.  
“Whaaa...? How about your holy sword?” Gabriel asked Emi.  
“I’ll pass. I don’t care if the gods themselves beg me for it. I’m not handing it over to anyone until I fulfil my mission,” Emi said sternly.  
“...Aw. Why’re you being so difficult? What kind of Devil King and Hero are you two? I really don’t want to get rough here, but... in my position, now that I’ve found this girl, I’m kinda beholden to get her back, soooo...”  
“Like I care,” Maou said.  
“Sariel couldn’t lay a hand on your holy sword, so... I suppose that I can settle for knowing where it is now. But I’m going to have to put my foot down about the girl. So... please? Just give ’er here.”  
“Nope,” Maou said without hesitation.  
“She was kind of mine first...”  
“And I’m her dad now.”  
“No matter what?”  
“No matter what.”  
“Even if it means you versus everyone in heaven?”  
“Sounds like a risk I’ll take. I ain’t gonna make this kid cry.”  
“...So difficult. This really gets my goat, ya know?” Gabriel said, and then he started using his powers to push back Maou and Emi. “I really hate using force. If you wanna surrender anytime, don’t be shy, mm-kay. Even if you had your Devil King strength, I’d probably still win and all. So please... just give her back,” Gabriel said with a smile.  
“...Are you serious?” Maou asked nervously. “But still, no. I’m the lord of all demons. I love doing things humans and angels just hate,” he said with a smile. “Once I conquer the world... I’m gonna raise this girl to be my heir.”  
“You don’t have any of your demonic force, so I’ll try to go easy on you, mm-kay? I’ll also accept your surrender.”  
Cathy, now recovered from the sudden attack of celestial force, was now in front of Maou, ready to fight with an eager look in her eyes considering she knew she would facing a real challenge now.  
“C’mon, Catarina. Don’t make it more difficult than it already is.”  
Before Cathy could say anything, Chiho’s voice came from the doorway and said, “Maou.”


	28. The plea

“...Maou?” Chiho repeated.  
“Chiho?! No get away!” Emi shouted.  
“...I thought that I needed to apologise for today...” Chiho started.  
“For today?” Maou wondered.  
“And then... this happened... I know I can’t really do anything for you... but I couldn’t just sit back.”  
“...You must be a human from this world, huh? Well this isn’t anything you’d be familiar with,” Gabriel concluded. “Calling the police isn’t going to help at all. I bet you won’t believe me but this Sadao Maou guy and me...”  
“I know all that!” Chiho shouted. “All about Maou... the Devil King Satan... Emilia the Hero, and Ente Isla too. That and...how...you’re probably an angel to pick up Alas Ramus.”  
“Well! You spotted me right off as an angel. Do I really look that divine to you?”  
“Up until now, if anyone’s done anything really bad to Maou or Yusa it’s been an angel, so...”  
This comment got a chuckle from Urushihara and an amused look from Cathy.  
“Well, no comment when it comes to Lucifer...” Gabriel said looking at the purple haired fallen angel, “...but what’d Sariel ever do to you guys? Apart from the obvious,” he added, looking regretfully at Cathy. “And Catarina...she’s...you know...not bad...awesome,” he said struggling while looking at her.  
Urushihara had to physically restrain himself from groaning. _He’s still as bad as ever at hiding it._ He looked towards his girlfriend, who was looking at her best friend bemused at the difficulty of getting his words out.  
“Cathy’s been nothing but nice to me,” Chiho said, wondering why this archangel was standing up for the female fallen angel and struggling when it came down to her. Chiho bowed at Gabriel and said, “Please...don’t take...Alas Ramus away from us. Alas Ramus really loves Maou and Yusa,” she said with tears appearing in her eyes. “So please...”  
“A-aw wait! Cut that out!” Gabriel shouted, not sure what to do about this begging girl. “C’mon lift your head! I look like a total villain here! It’s like I’m some kinda grifter in an old TV drama... brushing off the crying girl in the corner...while I strong-arm some poor schlub for the money he owes me!”  
“What are you going on about?” Maou asked unimpressed.  
Cathy on the other hand was just looking on as if she was watching her favourite TV show.  
“Please... I really mean it... Please...”  
“Dah! Stop crying! Give me a break! I’d take someone flailing at me with a weapon over this any ol’ day! Hey, c’mon you!”  
“Please... Please,” Chiho continued.  
“Ugggghhh” Gabriel said in despair. Then he came up with something and looked at Maou and said, “All right! You have until tomorrow.”  
“Lord Gabriel!?” one of the regiments said.  
“What are you saying!?” another one asked.  
“Uuugh... We’ve got our own problems too, mm-kay? So first thing tomorrow morning we’re hopping on back here, mm-kay?! Feel free to take your family photos or whatsoever in the meantime! But don’t think you can escape or anything, mm-kay!”  
“Really!?” Chiho said relieved.  
“...Oof...,” Gabriel said rubbing his head. “J-just till tomorrow. I can’t wait any longer than that, mm-kay? And you Devil King,” he said pointing at Maou, “if you try gathering your demonic power and putting up a fight...you’re gonna pay for it.” Then he turned towards Cathy, who was still smiling at him with pure amusement, making embarrassment creep up on him. “You too, Catarina.”  
She gave him a challenging smile. “Scared I’ll beat you if I do?”  
“Maybe,” he admitted while rubbing his head, making her laugh.  
“Th-thank you very much!” Chiho said, bowing her head.  
“Let’s...let’s go you bastards! Ugh, that throwaway line made me sound like some street punk...!”  
They all walked towards the stairs and subsequently fell down them.  
Cathy ran over to the window just in time to see Gabriel and his regiments standing up and brushing themselves up. “Ooh, that must’ve hurt,” she said, wincing in sympathy.  
“Cathy, mind telling me what’s going on?” Maou said.  
Cathy sighed. “Don’t have much of a choice now. Ok, the thing is-” but before she could continue Ashiya walked through the doorway and said panting, “I am back, my liege. ...Ah so hot... Oh, my liege... I noticed a group of people leaving. More people from MHK begging for your TV licence fee?”  
“...Not a care in the world with you, huh....? We kinda have an emergency here. Where the hell were you, stupid?”  
“Huh?” Ashiya asked, totally lost. “...Huh?”  
After a long pause, Urushihara asked, “...Um... Ignoring the completely clueless Ashiya here for a moment...What are we gonna do now?”


	29. Tree of Life

“Ok. Now before we decide on what to do, I’d like to hear the truth, Cathy. How do you know Gabriel? What’s your relationship with him?”  
Cathy, who was still smiling from the absolute ridiculousness of Gabriel, answered, “He’s my best friend.”  
Most of the group, excluding Urushihara who was just looking at his girlfriend, stared at her confused.  
“What?” Maou asked.  
“I’m sure even you know of the concept of ‘best friends’, my lord.”  
“Yeah. But he’s the enemy.”  
“In this instance, yes. And possibly others. And him being my best friend won’t stop me from fighting him. He knows that as well. But...” She snarled in irritation, not wanting to share much of her past, definitely not with Emi there “...let’s just say that that’s all you need to know. He’s my best friend but I have no problem fighting him.”  
“Now that’s out of the way. First of all what is all of what is this Yesod and Sephirot stuff anyway?” Emi asked.  
“Allow me to explain,” Suzuno said, taking the stage. “First...about the Tree of Sephirot. Sephirot is the tree in heaven from which everything in the world sprang from. Anyone who partakes of its fruit is said to gain immortality and the gifts of boundless knowledge. The first human beings created by the gods...broke a divine promise and ate one of them, resulting in humanity’s expulsion from paradise.”  
“Wow, that’s pretty similar to what we have on Earth. Like Adam and Eve in the Bible and so forth...” Chiho said.  
“The tree bore ten fruits known as Sephirah...each one tied to a different aspect of the world. For example...the first Sephirah, Keter, governs over the soul, human thought, and imagination. It corresponds to the number one, its jewel is the diamond, its colour white, its planet that of the god of the underworld, and its guardian angel Metatron. Yesod is the ninth Sephirah. It governs over the astral planets and one’s self-awareness. Its number is nine, its metallic element is silver, its colour purple, its heavenly body the moon, and its guardian Gabriel,” Suzuno explained.  
“Yeah, that pretty much sums it all up. Nice to know that at least the Church knows how to teach their clerics correctly.”  
“...You actually memorised all of that crap?” Maou asked surprised.  
“This is basic theology. Alas Ramus must be attracted to colourful things...because they remind her of the Sephirah and their corresponding colours. But still...assuming we take the legends at face value, everything that Gabriel told us would make sense. With Alas Ramus gone, the number nine, silver, purple and the moon are all in danger. And if Gabriel wants to protect the balance of the world...then he would need Alas Ramus.”  
“Doubt it. King Satan had her in crystal form for centuries and nothing happened. There is no proper reason why Gabriel should get to take her.”  
“I agree,” Suzuno started, “but if the angels wish to have this fragment of Yesod back...we have no way of resisting. It is utterly absurd.”  
“...Man, this is a total pain in the ass,” Maou said, rubbing his head. “Yo, Alas Ramus,” he said looking at the girl.  
“What is it, Daddy?”  
“That guy just now wanted to bring you back to his home, but do you wanna go with him?”  
“No!” Alas Ramus shouted loudly.  
“Okay,” Maou said crossing his arms confidently. “Right, end of discussion. If those guys do anything Alas Ramus doesn’t like tomorrow, we’re fighting to the bitter end.”  
“Wh-whoa! Hang on there!” Emi shouted. “Don’t you understand our situation? Bell and I don’t stand a chance taking on someone like Gabriel face-to-face. And Alciel, Lucifer and Catarina don’t have any power.”  
“I know. If it comes to that, I’ll do it myself,” Maou said.  
“By yourself? With all due respect, my lord, but I think that you would have a better chance if I were to help you and I am your bodyguard after all,” Cathy said frowning.  
“I know. But you also have hardly any power left, so it would hardly be fair to let you fight. And considering you and Gabriel are friends.”  
“That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t mind fighting him. You out of all people must know that.”   
“Yourself?! Are you crazy?” Emi shouted, before Maou could answer. “What can you do in the shape you’re in now?”  
“All right! Lay off,” Maou said irritated. “This is what I want, okay? I don’t want to give Alas Ramus back...because she doesn’t want to go back.”  
Suzuno was starting to get mad at Maou’s reckless plan and said, “Look, all of us...find the idea of Alas Ramus going someplace she dislikes abhorrent! If Alas Ramus were to be taken away to somewhere she loathes...I would rather keep her in your hovel instead! Acting as if he is the sole steward of an object he let roam free for hundreds of years...! How arrogant can you be!? The whole Tree of Sephirot is itself a pile of rubbish!”  
“I don’t think so,” Cathy said dryly under her breath, considering she couldn’t remember for the life of her what it truly was, but that it must be something connected to heaven or at least important to it. She knew that otherwise Gabriel wouldn’t be expending all this effort on finding the fragments.  
Maou looked up with a slight smile and said, “...Is that what you’re saying? You guys really like Alas Ramus, don’t you?” And after a short pause, “...Well thanks. But when it comes to fighting against holy forces, the Devil King’s kinda got a monopoly on that. This is too much for you guys.”  
“I’m following an idiot king,” Cathy said with a smile and sighed.  
“For my own selfish reasons...I wanna keep this kid, even if she belongs to the gods,” Maou continued. “So if push comes to shove with Gabriel tomorrow...you don’t have to step in, okay?” Then he turned to Emi, pointed at her and said, “Hey, Emi!”  
“What!?”  
“You’re sleeping over here tonight!”  
There was an immense silence that was eventually broken by Emi screaming, “...Whaaa?”


	30. “Big liars”

It was early in the morning when Emi, who had begrudgingly agreed to stay with Maou, woke up. She drank her Holy Vitamin β, so she would be ready to fight Gabriel if it came to that. She looked up and saw the looming figure of Gabriel standing right in front of her.  
“Mornin’, child,” he said.  
Emi went to say something, but Gabriel put his hand on her mouth before she could even utter a single word.  
“Now, now. No fussing! I’m not gonna do anything rough, mm-kay?” He pulled her away from the sleeping Maou and Alas Ramus. Emi tried to struggle against it, but Gabriel said, “Oh, stop! They’re both livin’ it up in dreamland... and they’ll be stayin’ in there a while too. I didn’t cast any spells on them either. Guess you didn’t sleep much last night. I mean since I got here...I ate a convenience store bento, went to the john, and did some morning aerobics, and you still didn’t wake up.”  
Emi, getting tired of Gabriel, started manifesting her Better Half in her hand. She managed to get out of Gabriel’s arms and pointed it at him.  
“Whoa! That’s a little dangerous, no?” he said, putting his hands up.  
“You angels sure have forgotten your manners, huh?”  
“Hang on! Didn’t I say I wanted to talk to you yesterday?”  
“Alas Ramus or not, you wanted my holy sword, didn’t you? If someone’s trying to prevent me from my goal, I won’t hesitate to take him down,” Emi threatened.  
“Aah, women these days! You are so strong willed.” Gabriel sighed.  
Maou started getting up and sleepily said, “...Stop making all of this noise...It’s still only five...” Then he suddenly noticed Gabriel. “...And-Whaaa?!”  
Maou, Emi and Gabriel ended up talking for a while until Maou shouted something that made Gabriel snap, “I know all about that! And about the legend of the Devil Overlord Satan of Old!”  
The snapping consisted of Gabriel chocking Maou with his celestial powers.  
Through all of the commotion Ashiya and Suzuno, who had been sleeping in the apartment next door had been woken up and were now and the door.  
“My liege, what is going on?” Ashiya asked through the door.  
“Stand aside, Alciel. I’ll break it down with my Light of Iron,” Suzuno said.  
“Oh, they’re finally up? Well, not that it’ll amount to anything. That barrier won’t fall apart that easily.” Gabriel noted, turning his head slightly towards the door. _I also put quite a powerful one around Catarina’s apartment and a sleeping spell on her._ He smiled wistfully at the thought of her peaceful sleeping body. _She won’t be getting here until after the fight._ “Sorry, but just to make sure we don’t regret anything later, I’ll take care of the Devil King, mm-kay? Does that work for you Emilia?”  
“...No deal,” Emi said in a deadpan voice.  
“Huh?” Gabriel asked disappointed.  
“It’s my turn to tell this girl a story tonight. If you take her away I’ll end up breaking my promise.”  
“Aww...”  
“I don’t care what all you stupid angels are dealing with! I’m the one who will cut down the Devil King Satan! I’d never let anyone else do it! Heavenly Flame Slash,” Emi said as she held tight onto her sword. The sword spat out fire and hurt Gabriel.  
“Oh. Ow, ow, ow! Geez! Hot, hot, hot. What’re you doing? That thing’s burning hot! Maybe not as hot as Catarina’s, but still... Y’know, I really didn’t want any rough stuff with you. But why can’t you see things my way here, hmm? I’m supposed to be her guardian, y’know.”  
“Who asked you?!” Emi shouted.  
“Well...nobody asked me exactly, but this is my duty, and...” Gabriel stopped talking when he noticed Alas Ramus staring directly at him.  
“We were playing. Having fun. That’s all! Malkut told me. You were all big liars. He said you were liars, but you got to be gods anyway!” Alas Ramus angrily shouted. Then she held her hand up towards Maou and released him. “I...hate you!” she shouted, releasing her celestial force. “You took us all away...you kept us all alone...” Alas Ramus’ mark was starting to glow on her forehead. “...and...and now you’re picking on Mommy and Daddy. I won’t let you!” And with those words Alas Ramus flew towards Gabriel and knocked him through the wall. Emi followed with Heavenly Fleet Feet, but Maou was left there all alone.  
“Emilia!” Suzuno said, having finally been able to break through the barrier.  
“My liege! Curse Emilia! Such a despicable act of treachery!” Ashiya said, concluding the worst.  
“N-no...G-Gabriel is...” Maou said. “Alas Ramus is fighting... After her quick...”  
“Alas Ramus is...” Ashiya started.  
“Fighting?” Suzuno ended.  
“Suzuno, please. Get me up there,” Maou said, pointing towards where Gabriel, Alas Ramus and Emi were currently fighting.  
But before anything could happen Gabriel’s Heavenly Regiment arrived and one of them said, “Halt, human! You too, Devil King Satan! You shall not interfere with Lord Gabriel!”  
“...You guys...” Maou said irritated.  
“Wow. Quite an attitude there,” Urushihara’s voice said from the doorway. “Do you even know who you’re talking to?”  
“U-Urushihara?” Ashiya asked uncertainly.  
“Get out of the way,” Urushihara ordered.  
The Heavenly Regiment looked nervous and then moved out of the way.  
“...Huh?” Maou asked surprised.  
“You guys’ll be fine now,” Urushihara said, now having everything under control. “They won’t bother you. Get going now.”  
“H-how did you...” Ashiya asked shocked.  
“Dude...did you forget what I used to be?” Urushihara asked annoyed. “Before I fell, I was the leader of the archangels. A bunch of Heavenly Regiment lackeys aren’t about to defy me, see?”  
“You’re....actually pretty useful sometimes...” Maou said surprised.  
“You don’t have to add the sometimes, Maou. Just get going.” He concentrated on any other magical presence and stopped himself from rolling his eyes. _He put a sleeping spell on her. He really doesn’t want to fight her._  
“R-right!” Maou said and then to Suzuno. “C’mon, Suzuno.”  
“Very well. Climb onto the head of my hammer!” Once Maou was on the hammer they flew into the air and Suzuno shouted, “Hang on tight!”  
Maou entered the fight but was pushed to the side by Gabriel quickly. Emi, on the other hand, managed to hold her own against the archangel. When the fight was over she fell to the ground and Suzuno was able to catch her.  
“Emilia, are you ok?!” Suzuno said as she caught her.  
“...Oh Bell...Yeah, I’m fine. Also, Gabriel’s gone,” Emi said as she slowly got up.  
“What?!”  
“Hey! Emi! Where’s Alas Ramus?” Maou asked, noticing that the child was nowhere to be seen.  
Emi looked down regrettably.  
“Hey, c’mon. What happened to Alas Ramus?!” Maou shouted. “No way...” he said, falling to his knees. “What are we gonna do about this?”


	31. “What’s up, Gabe?”

The moment Urushihara heard the news, he rushed over to apartment 102 and pretty much broke the door down. There he could see his girlfriend slowly getting up, having no idea about the bad news that he was about to tell her. He could just not tell her for now. Relish those last moments of her beautiful, peaceful face. But he knew she would ask about it. Definitely now that he was there.  
“Lucifer,” she said with a smile. “What brings you here so early?”  
He walked over to her and knelt beside her, taking her hands in his.  
“Lucifer, what’s wrong?” she asked cautiously.  
“I’m sorry. We did everything we could, he was just too strong.”  
She sighed painfully. “Guess that’s what happens when a group of powerless people go up against an archangel.” She held onto him. “How’s everyone?”  
“Maou’s been totally outta it from the moment he heard. ’Parently Emilia’s all right. Everyone else is sad, but nothing else.”  
She looked into his eyes. “What ’bout you?”  
He shrugged. “Do kinda miss her.”  
“I’ll miss her as well.” After a pause, she asked, “What’d you actually do?”  
“Maou joined in the fight with Emilia, Bell also went along. I just-” he sighed, “I just told Gabriel’s regiment to get outta the way and they listened to me. You know, ’cause I used to be the Leader of the Archangels.”  
She smiled. “So they still have to listen to you even though you’re fallen?”  
“Only the lesser ones.”  
“Oh, it truly is great having you as my boyfriend.”  
“Why?”  
“Because when I start thinking you can’t become any greater, you do something like this.”  
“You think that telling ’em to get outta the way was great?” he asked with a dubious smile.  
Cathy nodded. “Everything you do is great, Lucifer.”  
“Glad you think so,” he said, and went in for a kiss. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by Cathy’s alarm, telling her to get ready to go to work. As Cathy was preparing herself for work, Urushihara asked, “You seriously going?”  
“As much as I hate it, I can’t exactly not go. King Satan’s gone and he probably feels worse than me.”  
“So you’re actually using him as a good example,” he said dryly.  
She chuckled. “In some cases, yes. In others, you’re the one I look to.”  
He grinned at her. “That’s good to know.”

While Cathy was working, she sent off a bit of her magic – feeling for celestial force. Even the tiniest bit. She knew that if Gabriel was still on this planet, he probably wouldn’t be in any fights, but he would still have some magic coming out of him. And she would find it. She hadn’t told Lucifer she was planning on finding her best friend after work, but she thought it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. And considering who Gabriel was to her, he didn’t really have much of a right for getting mad. There could be some slight jealousy, but nothing their relationship couldn’t handle.  
Once work was done she started getting changed with a smile. Soon enough after she had sent out her magic it had come back telling her that a powerful force was lazing around in an internet café not too far away from El Diablo’s.  
Angelica noticed the smile and asked whether it had something to do with a guy. She didn’t deny it, but also added that it wasn’t what her colleague was hoping since she already had a boyfriend who she loved very much. This sent Angelica into a state of excitement, considering that Cathy didn’t tend to talk about her personal life, and now Angelica wanted to meet this mysterious boyfriend of hers. All she said in return was that she’d think about it and discuss it with him, even though she knew perfectly well that the answer of all three of the Devil’s Castle’s residents would be a firm no. Now she was ready, Cathy found a nice empty alleyway and teleported to where her best friend was.

Cathy reappeared in one of the computer rooms and was greeted by a loud and surprised scream. She looked around to the owner of that unbearable sound and saw that he had fallen off his chair and was now looking at her in a daze. This sent her off in a state of uncontrollable laughter.  
This snapped Gabriel out of his daze, making him stand up and brush himself off. “C’mon, Catarina, it’s not that funny, mm-kay.”  
She put her hand up for him to wait while she caught her breath. “Oh no, it’s not just funny, Gabe; it’s hilarious.” She gave him a lopsided smile, that along with that playful and affectionate look in her eyes that he couldn’t help but love even after being separated for so long made him give her a bone crushing hug. She let the archangel hug her for a few minutes and then went on to awkwardly say, “Um...Gabe...I’ve missed you too. But I came here to talk.”  
He let go of her and awkwardly looked at her, making her almost feel guilty about telling him to stop hugging her. She sat down on the edge of the desk and indicated to him to sit back in the chair he had so elegantly exited moments earlier. She looked around the room and finally said, “So, where is she? Did you already send her back to that hellhole or what?”  
“Wha?” he asked, totally clueless as to what the red-eyed fallen angel was referring to.  
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Where’s Alas Ramus, Gabriel?”  
His eyes shot up in surprise. “Didn’t Emilia tell you?”  
“No, she’d already left by the time I woke up. For which I thank you.” Her voice was dripping with scorn as she said the last sentence. “Lucifer came by when I was waking up and told me about the events of earlier. That Emilia and King Satan had tried to fight against you. That when King Satan arrived, you just tossed him to the side, so it was only you, Emilia and Alas Ramus I guess. Afterwards Emilia fell to the ground and told everyone Alas Ramus was gone.”  
The archangel stared at his friend in disbelief. He shook his head. “Listen, Catarina, that’s not what happened, ya know. I swear.”  
“What happened then?”  
“Most of what you said’s true, just that last part ’bout me, Emilia and Alas Ramus. Some reason Alas Ramus didn’t want to leave her Mommy, ya know, so she just ate Emilia’s sacred sword.”  
Now it was Cathy’s turn to look on in disbelief. “She merged with Emilia’s sword’s fragment.”  
Gabriel nodded in confirmation.  
Then something else came to mind that made her smile cruelly. “Emilia lied to us. Trying to be all pathetic and such.” She scoffed. “Guess our demonicness is rubbing off on her.”  
“Don’t think so.”  
Cathy shrugged. “Guess we’ll see when she reveals all.” She looked Gabriel straight in the eyes, red eyes meeting red eyes. “So what you gonna do now? Now that your mission’s failed?”  
He shrugged in reply. “Dunno. Wait for more orders.”  
She grinned at him, making him want to cover his now heating up head in his hands. It truly had been too long since he’d seen her and her being so...so her made him almost think the unthinkable. But there was someone, just one person in her whole ten thousand years of living, who had probably been able to do that and more with her permission. “So...,” he said with a grin, getting rid of all of the embarrassment.  
“So?” she asked with an arched eyebrow.  
“You and Lucifer, huh.”  
She chuckled. “Yeah, me and Lucifer. Are you really that surprised?”  
He shook his head. “Just how you stated it, is all.”  
“Ah, that. Yeah.” She rubbed her head in embarrassment. “Could’ve used a bit more tact and said it in a better way. Just so used to saying it like that.” She looked at him and in that look he could see how much the purple-haired fallen angel had grown to mean to her. “He also sometimes refers to me like that if you’re wondering.” She chuckled nervously. “Quite a lot actually now that I think about it. Whenever there’s a new guy or someone, he just chucks it into the conversation so they know I’m his.”  
He nodded his head in understanding. “I see. How long?”  
“How long we’ve been together?” She frowned. “Dunno. Ages, definitely centuries. Maybe ... probably longer. Dunno how time passes for you, Gabe, but in the demon realm it really just turns into one big blur if you’re always doing the same.”  
“I’d remember,” he said under his breath. Then normally, “Could calculate it.”  
She huffed a laugh and looked at him exasperated. “You serious?”  
He nodded in confirmation.  
“Fine. Happened a few years after I left heaven if you must know. After Sariel’d made me fall from grace.”  
Gabriel winced at the thought of her having to endure the pain of the Evil Light of the Fallen. “That’s really long, ya know. No wonder ya don’t keep up. Probably millennia, not centuries, mm-kay.”  
She looked down at the floor and started playing with a strand that had come loose out of her braid, which he noticed she was now wearing behind her head, not over her shoulder like she usually did. That didn’t change the fact that he thought it looked good on her.  
“Guess that does make sense. Been thinking that as well. Just...you know...if people were to hear that, they’d probs freak out and stuff.”  
“’Cause the two of you’ve loved each other for so long?”  
She looked him straight in the eyes. Even thought he had exactly the same shade as them, hers were eyes that predicted blood and had seen a lot of it. He really had been lucky that she had had hardly any magic left and his spells had stood strong, along with that she probably wouldn’t end him given the chance.  
“Yes,” she conceded in a small voice.  
He waved his hand around dismissively. “If they don’t get it, they’re stupid, mm-kay. I’ve know the two of you long enough to know that you belong together, ya know. So don’t listen to ’em.”  
She gave him a small smile. “Thanks, Gabriel. You really have a knack for making me feel better.” Her eyes drifted towards the floor where he had been when they first greeted each other. “Even without trying.”  
He smiled broadly at her. “That’s what best friends are for, ya know.” He unsurely added, “Can I ask somethin’ else ’bout you and Lucifer?”  
“Sure.”  
“Have you two...done it? Know what I mean.”  
“Done what?” she asked confused. Then her eyes widened in shock as she realised what the archangel was alluding to, along with her cheeks getting a pink tinge. She covered her face with her hands. “Seriously, Gabe, out of all of the things you can ask me. You go right ahead and ask that.”  
“Just wondering, mm-kay. You know you’re s’posed to tell your best friends ’bout that kinda stuff.”  
She uncovered her eyes and eyed the computer next to her. “On what kinda websites have you been to know that?”  
He shrugged dismissively. “Unimportant. So have you?”  
“You really want to know?” she said, her voice layered with discomfort.  
After asking the question, he even had the nerve to think about wanting to hear the answer. “Yes,” he said eventually.  
“That’s also the answer if you must know,” she said, uncovering her face. “We have done it.” She pulled her knees up against her, making her look like an harmless woman – which everyone present knew she was not – definitely with that still red face. “It took time, but eventually I realised that with him I actually wanted to do it. So we did. Was freaking scary, ’cause of the, you know, fire, but it was also great.” She smiled longingly. “Definitely if you get to do it with someone you love.” She sighed. “Got anything to drink?”  
He looked around and saw a half full water bottle on the floor that had miraculously stayed up during all of the commotion. “Water?” he said, holding it up.  
“Sure,” she said, extending her arm to accept it. She opened the bottle and started drinking out of it. When she’d finished, she noticed Gabriel staring at her. “What’s up, Gabe?”  
“I drank out of that bottle,” he said in a small voice.  
“’Course. Would be weird if you hadn’t.” She smiled playfully. “Then some kinda ghost or other creature would’ve had to drink out of it and place it nicely on the floor. Scared of my germs or something?”  
He shook his head. “It’s kinda like an indirect kiss.”  
Cathy chuckled and lowered herself from the table. “What are you, ten?” She waved the bottle in his face. “You drank out of that bottle, I drank out of it and in the future, you’ll probs also drink out of it. Nothing more, nothing less. Japanese society is really rubbing off on ya if you believe that.” She studied him and much to her surprise noticed that a pink tinge had entered his cheeks. “Gabriel, what’s wrong?” she asked cautiously. “If I went too far in some way, I’m sorry.”  
He shook his head. “No, nothing. You should go now. Maybe Emilia’s already revealed that Alas Ramus hasn’t been taken away yet.”  
She took out her phone and looked at the time. “She doesn’t get off till five. Still got an hour at least.” She sighed. “But out of safety of not having anything more embarrassing. I’ll keep it simple,” she said, letting herself fall in the chair after putting down the bottle of water. “You find anyone interesting while I was away?”  
The archangel composed himself again and said, “When could’ve done that? I was off huntin’ Yesod fragments, ya know.”  
“Oh, I know. Just wondering. Maybe you had some kinda one night stand in heaven or found someone interesting on Ente Isla or even the demon realm.”  
The last part of the comment resulted in Gabriel making a face. “Not into demons, Catarina.”  
“Oh,” she said mock hurt, putting her hand to her heart. “I feel insulted.”  
The archangel just realised what he’d implied and hurriedly added, “You’re a fallen angel, that’s different.”  
“Oh, really?” she said with a curious grin. “How exactly is that different? I fell from grace and even though I am a fallen angel, I still belong to the species known as demons.”  
“’Cause-’cause you’re...” Gabriel said, fishing for words.  
“’Cause?”  
“Guess ’cause we’re friends,” he finally said. He knew it wasn’t a proper reason, but it was still better than what his heart wanted him to say.  
She smiled in satisfaction but then frowned. “So in all this time you haven’t had anyone?”  
“No need,” he said dismissively.  
“Guess not. Also never saw the need till I met Lucifer. Some people can just change that with a single beat, you know.” She sighed. “But hey...if no one’s interested in the great loser that is you, guess it’s their loss.”  
“Hey,” he said, annoyed at the first part. But then, “You serious?”  
“Serious ’bout the fact that it’s their loss? Yeah, pretty much.”  
He gaped at her like a fish, opening and closing his mouth.  
“Is it really that shocking that I’d say such a thing? Thought it was pretty obvious with how great a friend you are and all.”  
“Yeah, friend. Nothing more, Catarina. That’s why it’s so weird for you to say that, y’know.”  
“Oh. Well yeah. In the end, boyfriend is just an extension of a friend. Apart from the fact that you have to be compatible an’ all.” She looked down. “That’s what sucks ’bout people not necessarily feeling the same thing.” She fixed him with a serious look. “Don’t repeat anything that has been said and will be said to anyone.” Her best friend nodded in response. “Chiho Sasaki likes King Satan in a romantic way, but we have no idea how he feels ’bout her. That’s probably the same for others as well, all around the world. Compatibility is key, otherwise people could end up getting hurt. And usually it’s the person who fell first.”  
“You’re amazing,” Gabriel said awestruck.  
“Um...thanks,” Cathy said, not prepared for such a compliment after that speech.  
Suddenly Gabriel was behind her and was wheeling the chair towards the door. “Time to go now.”  
“What? No, Gabe. We still have time to talk,” she said, turning towards him on her knees. “I want to know why Alas Ramus hates you so much.”  
“Yeah. Later. I want to sleep now,” he said lazily.  
She put her forehead against the headrest. “I really have a problem if my best friend and boyfriend are both so lazy.” She smiled a small smile. “But then again, so am I.” She got up and ran towards the table where she picked up her handbag. “Can’t forget this.” Then she walked over to the door, where Gabriel was now standing, prepared to open the door for her. She smiled up at him. “Bye, Gabe, until you’re ordered to screw with us again.” She held her finger up strictly. “And don’t put me asleep again like that if we do have to come face to face. I wanna fight, you know.”  
Now that Cathy was standing normally in front of him, smallness and all, he couldn’t help but pat her on the head. “I know.”  
She looked up at him irritated as she touched her head, making sure nothing was out of place. “I hate you.”  
He made a pained face, considering how forcefully it had been said to him yesterday, even though he did know she didn’t mean it like that.  
She shook her head in exasperation, knowing all too well what was going through the archangel’s head. “Fine, I love you, Gabe. Goodbye.”  
As he opened the door, he could feel something burning inside of him. “Hey, Catarina...” he said in a small voice.  
Just then an unexpected person passed by. “Hi, Greek. How’s it going?” He looked at Catarina. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend. You should’ve said.” Then he gave him a thumbs-up in approval.  
A jolt of sheer alarm went through him as Cathy eyed him curiously because of his nickname. “She’s not my girlfriend, mm-kay. Just a friend, a really good friend. Best friend. Nothing more. Really. I swear. She also already has a boyfriend. Who she loves a lot. A lot, yes. And he her. They are perfect together.”  
The man looked on confused at Gabriel’s frantic explanation. “Relax, I get it. She’s just a really good friend,” he said, trying to calm him down.  
“Yes. Ok,” he said turning towards Cathy, who seemed just as confused. “Goodbye.”  
She started walking away, but just before she reached the end of the hallway she turned around and with a teasing smile said while waving her hand, “Goodbye, Greek.”  
He waved in response and continued doing so until the man thought that he should point it out to him. Then Gabriel went back to his room and let himself fall into the chair, exhausted. “Should’ve prepared myself better. Knew she’d end up with him from the moment she started lookin’ at him that way.” He rubbed his head in irritation. “But she’s happy with him, that’s what’s important.” He sighed and thought back to a part of their conversation. “Wonder whether she knows.” He looked towards the near empty bottle that she had discarded on the floor. “Then again, she might just think I’m being a child.” He walked over to the bottle, picked it up and studied it. _Just a childish myth. I can drink from it without thinking of it._ He unscrewed it, brought it to his mouth and started drinking. But while he was drinking, he thought of something that made him remove the bottle from his face. He sighed and sat on the floor, eying the bottle intensely. “Maybe if I’d told you earlier how much I love you, Catarina, we wouldn’t be ’aving this problem.”

Later that day everyone came together at the Devil’s Castle where Emi revealed that Alas Ramus had in fact merged with her sacred sword. This came as a surprise to most people; Cathy even feigned it, considering that she wanted her conversation with Gabriel – who still technically was their enemy – to be top secret and Urushihara the only one in on it. Along with the fake shock Cathy decided to threaten the Hero, for if she dared lie to them again. This gesture upset Alas Ramus, making Cathy realise that it would be more difficult from now on to taunt the Hero as much as she used to.


	32. “The peepro of the peep sword”

Later that month, the Devil’s Castle and company received earth shattering news: all the tenants of Villa Rosa Sasazuka were being evicted, so the apartment complex could be repaired after Alas Ramus had pushed Gabriel out through the wall. Not only that but Maou couldn’t go to work for a while because MgRonald was opening a MagCafé and the place needed renovating. Which meant that now the king of all demons was homeless – along with his subordinates – and jobless.  
Fortunately the landlady of the apartment complex, Shiba, had sent the male demons a video – which they had all been too scared to watch because of the destructiveness of one single picture of her in a bikini. Emi would have none of their pleading and thanks to Chiho, who had a VCR at home, Maou managed to watch the video. In the video Shiba informed Maou about a place her niece ran in Chosi because her father was out for a bit; and that they could work as well as stay there. This was the perfect chance, so Maou took it without any hesitation. Eventually the girls also tagged along, but for different reasons. Even though Cathy’s had obviously been Urushihara.  
The first day in Chosi had been filled with everyone cleaning up the beach house and stocking up supplies, because the next day was opening day. That evening the group went to the beach to have a get together. The group lit up sparklers and some even had a contest of who could hold onto them for the longest. That evening a loud foghorn sounded, making Alas Ramus cry. Amane Ooguro, the owner of the beach house Ooguro-ya and Shiba’s niece informed that when it gets misty, the foghorn to warn ships. Since Alas Ramus wouldn’t stop crying, Amane suggested that the girls go back to the inn and the boys to their place near the beach house.  
But as it turned out that evening still had more surprises in store for the male demons.

Opening day the demons had to get up really early to prepare everything. It was even more frantic than they could have hoped for with them even almost running out of food. Maou and Cathy handled taking orders and giving food to the customers, Ashiya cooked everything and lastly Urushihara had to man the ice cream machine, which had seemed straight forward at first, but because the queue was so long, he had problems keeping up with everyone’s order. That along with shouting at some members of the male public to keep their eyes to themselves. Ashiya also ended up having problems in the kitchen since it appeared that they hadn’t ordered enough food the day before. All hope seemed lost for the demons, until their saviours arrived: Emi, Chiho and Suzuno in their bathing suits. With the help of these three girls the group managed to keep the shop running smoothly until the end of the day.  
Afterwards Maou informed the girls that they had received an unexpected visitor last night: his Devil Regent Camio.  
And so Maou took the girls to the guys’ place, after allowing Cathy to say goodbye to her boyfriend.  
They entered the room and Maou said, “So I got this thing I want you guys to see.”  
“Aw, cute.”  
“Yeah.” Cathy knelt down besides a small box where currently a plump bird was sleeping.  
The bird move slightly, which caused Alas Ramus’ excited reaction of, “Tweety-tweet moved.”  
“No, Alas Ramus, don’t touch. It looks pretty weak,” Emi said, holding tightly onto Alas Ramus.  
The bird looked tiredly towards Maou and said, “Peep...peep...Lord Satan? ...Have you concluded your duties? ...Peep.”  
At the moment, Cathy was restraining herself from stroking the oversized bird. “Oh, this is absolutely great. Hi, Camio. Long time no see.”  
The small bird shot up and said with a slight bow, “King Satan’s Bodyguard...peep..., Lady Catarina.”  
Cathy continued looking at him with an intrigued smile, though no one else saw the worry in her eyes. “What happened to you?”  
He looked down, not sure how to explain it. Camio looked towards the other girls in the room and said, “Mnngh...I detect humans. Lord Satan...peep...who are these?”  
“This is a demon from my realm,” Maou explained. “His name is Camio, my Devil Regent. He fell from the sky last night in the middle of the fog.”  
“What?” Cathy said, looking confused from Maou to Camio.  
“Devil...Regent?” Emi wondered aloud.  
“He has served as the military advisor since the early days of my conquest. Back when violence ruled the demon realm, he built up a tribe using his intelligence and military instincts. I brought him to my side in order to learn how he survived. If it wasn’t for him, I never would’ve been able to form a demon force like I had. When I decided to throw the brunt of my force to Ente Isla...Camio served as my representative; working to keep the rest of the demon realm together.”  
“So you’re saying Camio and two more demons...where here, on Kimigahama beach last night?” Emi asked.  
“You’re definitely not responsible for this?”  
“No. If I was, I would’ve killed them on the spot,” Emi said while looking at Maou like saying he was an idiot. This again caused Cathy to look at her threateningly.  
“Hug tweety-tweet,” Alas Ramus said, reaching for Camio.  
“So...someone beside you, Maou, and you, Yusa...dispatched these demons from another world?” Chiho asked.  
“I’m thinking about checking out that lighthouse later. The foghorn sounded, then these guys showed up...then they vanished in the mist. It’s got to be related.”  
“That’s a possibility. I’ll come with you, my lord,” Cathy put in.  
“The Inubohsaki Lighthouse? We were there this morning,” Chiho said, trying to ignore the bad feeling considering Maou might go alone to the light house with another girl.  
“Huh?” Maou and Cathy said in union.  
“They charge admission to go up...but we didn’t notice anything unusual about it,” Emi added. “Besides, we’re in Japan. It’s not gonna be infused with demonic energy or-” Emi was suddenly cut off by a loud peep from Camio, who was struggling in Alas Ramus’s arms while she gleefully said, “Tweety-tweet!”  
“Hey! Alas Ramus!” Emi said nervously. “No!”  
“No tweet-tweet?” Alas Ramus said, holding onto the bird-like demon’s tail.  
“L-let me go free, accursed human child! Peep!” Camio said, flapping his wings frantically.  
“Let him go already! The bird’s saying you’re hurting him.”  
“Aww,” Alas Ramus pouted and released the bird, making him fly head first into something big with a cloth over it.  
Cathy looked at him with a pained smile. “Oh, Camio. For you to be defeated by a toddler surly is something else. But I guess it can’t be helped.” She went over to help him. Though before that, she softly stroked his fur. “You’ve just lost too much of your magic.”  
Maou looked exasperated at his bodyguard and then Camio. “Um...Camio! You all right?”  
Camio, being held down by the covered object, said, “Y-yes, my lord! It is not a grave injury...” He freed himself with Cathy’s help and Maou commented nervously, “Uh, whoa, you grew...?”  
“Alas Ramus! Apologise to the bird at once! I think you really scared him!” Emi insisted.  
“Oooh...I’m shorrie.”  
_So cute_ , Cathy couldn’t help but think with an affectionate smile.  
“Keh... ha ha ha! I will not brood over the, peep...playful eagerness of a child.”  
“But what is this bird doing in Japan anyway? And why’s he suddenly chicken sized?”  
“Lord Satan...do I have your permission to explain matters to these people?”  
“Sure, go ahead,” Maou said casually. He indicated Chiho and said, “This is Chiho Sasaki. She’s a human. She knows about me, Catarina and Alciel, and she’s been a lot of help to us.”  
“Oooh, in that case, young, peep, human girl. On my master’s behalf, I offer you my utmost thanks,” he said, bowing deeply.  
“Oh, um, not at all,” Chiho said, bowing as well. “Maou...um...Satan has been a huge help to me too.”  
“And this girl and the baby who grabbed your tail...,” he said, pointing towards Emi and Alas Ramus in her arms, “...are the Hero and her sword.”  
“Hey! Don’t just go blabbing about that!” Emi shouted annoyed.  
“Peeeep! The peepro of the peep sword...?!” Camio said shocked.  
“The peepro...?” Emi repeated irritated.  
“...Peep Satan?”  
“Peep Satan!” Alas Ramus repeated gleefully.  
“The Hero of the Holy Sword was the cause of our force’s destruction. Why are you being so familiar with the Hero and her sword...peep?”  
“...It all just kind of happened,” Emi answered. “Just remember, I’m ready to slice off the Devil King’s head in his sleep anytime I want. And don’t try anything funny or it’s the dinner table for you.”  
Cathy snarled and a deadly gleam entered her eyes.  
“...So that’s kind of how it is,” Maou said, hastily stepping between the Hero and the demons, “but there’s more to it than that. Lemme put it in a way you’d probably understand. Even Alciel was our foe once upon a time, yeah...? Remember how we managed to conquer the demon realm?”  
“...Peep.”  
“He’s seriously comparing her to that pain,” Cathy commented with indignation under her breath.  
“Wait, what’re you talking about?” Emi asked.  
“Maou?” Chiho asked.  
“How we failed to invade Ente Isla...even after I united the entire demon realm,” he said, kneeling by his regent.  
“Huh?” Emi said.  
“Besides, you know full well by now, right?” he said, looking straight at her. “Once heaven started directly meddling with the things on Ente Isla...this was gonna be about a lot more than just you and me. Not like you keep me alive just because you accept it as fate or whatever, right?”  
“Of course, but what’re you trying to say?”  
“Like I told you, I know we’ll have to settle this someday. But for now, we have to pool our resources to deal with what’s going on now.” He patted Alas Ramus on her head. “Otherwise, we might expose Alas Ramus to danger. Like we did with Gabriel.”  
“You are as direct in your speech as always, Lord Satan. There are times, with a hated foe, when emotions do pose an obstacle to plain logic.”  
Cathy sighed. _Well, he’s not wrong._  
“Peepro of the Holy Sword...,” he said, looking at Emi.  
“Will you stop that?!” she shouted irritated.  
“No. Continue,” Cathy said amused.  
“If you find it difficult to accept, peep of it this way. If you share a common enemy, then share what must be shared, if it affects little else. There is no need to fight side by side in actual battle as peepquals.”  
“...I know that much, all right? I don’t need you lecturing me,” Emi said embarrassed. She shouted, “So can we get on with the topic?! I want to hear some answers!”  
“All right. Go ahead, Camio. What did you come to Japan for? Why were you half-slashed to death on the way? What did you mean when you said both our realms face chaotic times?” Maou sat down and revealed a bejewelled sword. “That...and what’s this sword you brought with you?”  
“That is the-” Camio was cut off by a sudden knock on the door.  
“Yes?” Maou said startled.  
“Maou? You ok? ’Cause it sounded like you were strangling a chicken in there? Can I come in?”  
“S-sure,” he said while shushing Camio.  
Amane opened the door. “All right... Whoa! What’s with that bird?” she asked, looking at the silent Camio.  
“Um...I found it last night. It was hurt.”  
“Hmm...somebody’s pet, maybe? We better check with the local vet.”  
“Y-yeah. ...For sure.”  
She looked seriously at the bird and then said in an upbeat manner, “Also, Urushihara’s gettin’ kinda whiny... He wants you all to come back. We’ll have to start closing soon.”  
“I’m sorry. I’ll be right there,” Maou said, then he fixed his bodyguard with a gaze. “Are you really leaving now?”  
Cathy smiled at him awkwardly. “You know, he wants us to come back.”  
“Just wait a little longer.”  
“Yes, Maou.”  
Amane then looked at Alas Ramus and smiled. “Well, look at you! Wonder what you’ll be like when you grow up.”  
“Waph,” Alas Ramus happily responded.  
Once Amane had left, Maou turned back towards the group. “...Well, that’s all we can discuss for now.”  
“...You can go back to work. I’ll ask Camio about the rest,” Emi said, blushing slightly.  
“W-well ok. But...are you sure?”  
“Am I sure? What did you guys just waist all your time lecturing me about?”  
“...Well. Great. Thanks.”  
“I don’t need your thanks. I’m doing this for my sake,” she said, facing the other way.  
“Lord Satan...” Cathy insisted.  
“Yeah, yeah.” He turned towards Camio. “Camio, if you don’t mind telling-” Then suddenly Maou noticed the bird’s serious expression. “...Camio?”  
“That woman...” he said in a grave voice.  
“Huh? What about her?”  
“That woman. I was powerless to stop her. She had the strength of a demonic goddess.”  
“...Huh?”  
“The one who plunged my soldiers into the roaring of that enormous dragon...was her.”

On the way back to the restaurant, Cathy said, “My lord...”  
“What is it?”  
“Do you want me to investigate her? I admit that when we first met her, something seemed off about her. But this... She took down your regent. If she’s our enemy then we should find out as much as possible. A way to defeat her.”  
“No. Not now at least. She hasn’t posed any threat to us.”  
“Yet.”  
“You really wanna get into a fight with her? Didn’t you see what she did to Camio?”  
“Of course I did, my lord. I just like fighting. And if it helps me protect you and Lucifer and even Camio, all the more reason to do so.”  
“Seriously,” he said through a sigh. “Just don’t. It could be dangerous.”  
“Sure thing.”

Later that evening demons and Hero came together to discuss things further. Camio told them about the Malebranche and the fact that they were working with Olba, resulting in Cathy’s cruellest smile yet. Just when they had finished talking, a Gate opened with hundreds of Malebranche demons coming through. Camio told his fellow demons that they could replenish their magic with the sword that he had brought with him. Alciel suggested he go after it, but tripped over his own feet, resulting in everyone, even Cathy, looking at him unimpressed. Fortunately Amane had had an idea that the demons would need the sword and showed up just in time and gave it to them. With this they took on their demonic forms and went to greet the Malebranche.  
After scaring the living daylight out of them, Maou said he would let them off with a warning, much to Cathy’s ire considering she was in a blood shedding mood. After all of the necromancers had left, everyone poured their power together to close the Gate, in turn resulting in the demons losing their forms and free falling from the sky. Fortunately Emi was fast to think and along with Cathy, who was the only demon not screaming her head off, managed to take the demons to shore.  
Later that day, back in the beach house, the group noticed a bunch of strange figures outside. Amane informed them that the reason for these figures appearance was because of Maou and Ashiya’s immense demonic magic. She decided then that everyone had worked enough and disappeared with the house, leaving them only with a large sum of money.


	33. The date

The group spent the rest of the day as tourist around Chosi. Unfortunately the heat was too much for Urushihara and he ended up complaining more than usual. Cathy suggested that she could go and get something to drink with him and then meet the rest at the station when their train was about to depart. Maou agreed to it, so Cathy dragged her boyfriend to the nearest air-conditioned café.  
After Urushihara had a big gulp of his cold smoothie, he said, “I seriously love you, Cat.”  
She giggled. “I’m just doing what any girlfriend would do for their suffering boyfriend.”  
“Suffering indeed,” he said with a sigh. “And doesn’t seem like it’s gonna get any better.”  
“Yeah, well. Chosi is a place where people go to visit the beach and have loadsa sun. Sasazuka’ll probably be better.”  
“Guess. Least there I have a fan.”  
“Exactly,” she replied with a grin. “There you have your own personal fan and everything.”  
“Shame it’s so small though,” he mused.  
“Huh? Why?”  
“Can’t exactly share a cupboard with you.”  
She looked at him incredulously as she bit her lip and a pink tinge entered her cheeks. “Well that’s what my apartments for.”  
“Meaning that I hafta go into that heat to spend time alone with you or wait till they’re gone,” he replied with a grin.  
She chuckled. “Yeah. And I’m pretty sure it’d be really uncomfortable.”  
He shrugged. “Heard people do it in the toilet stalls.”  
Cathy snorted. “Oh, for crying out loud. You’re such an idiot.”  
He smiled at her lovingly. “And whose idiot am I?”  
“Mine,” she replied with the same kind of smile.  
“Forever,” he said. Suddenly the look in his eyes turned serious.  
“Lucifer, what’s wrong?” Cathy asked worriedly, noticing the change in her boyfriend’s eyes.  
He sighed in irritation. “Usual. Men being hormone filled apes.”  
She reached out in front of her. “Well, let’s do something to scare them off then.”  
“Huh?” was the last thing Urushihara managed to say before his girlfriend pulled him into a kiss. Afterwards they were both grinning like idiots.  
“So did it work?”  
He enjoyed the taste while looking behind her again and said with a satisfied grin, “Yeah. They’ve stopped.”  
“Yay. Victory,” she said, even more pleased.  
His satisfied grin softened to a loving smile.  
After a while, she noticed that he was still starting at her like that and said, “Um...Lucifer.”  
“I really don’t deserve you.”  
“Eh?”  
“Sometimes it just feels like I got lucky. You know, right place, right time.”  
“I wouldn’t call it that. I would’ve fallen either way and then I would’ve met you and fallen in love with you. And stayed in love with you. No matter what. Luck really has nothing to do with it, Luci. You know that. If it did, then I could’ve just as well fallen out of love afterwards if it had just been something of the moment. Guess the only lucky thing was that you had no rivals.”  
He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”  
She started playing with her straw. “None that I could see.”  
_So she still hasn’t noticed. He’ll have to spell it out to her._ “You were also lucky in my case, then.”  
“Oh, really?” she asked with her cheerful smile.  
“Yeah. When it came down to it, no one stood a chance against you. Nor will they ever.”  
For some reason, Cathy started blushing. Seconds after, she could feel her face heating up and covered it with her hands.  
Urushihara lent back in his chair, still grinning, straw still between his teeth. “Oh, I love seeing you defeated like this, my Catarina.” He said her name like it was some kind of enchantment, making her bite down on her lip to stop her from completely losing it.  
“Shut up,” she said in a higher than usual voice.  
“Oh, my dear Cat, you must know that I’ll never shut up. Definitely when it comes down to you.”  
She uncovered her face and said, “Think I need some fresh air.”  
“Uh? Don’t you mean jungle heat air?”  
She smiled at him lovinly. “Maybe."  
He let out a long sigh, as if he was making some kind of life decision. “Comin’ too.”  
“We’ll lose our seat if we both go out.”  
He shrugged. “Can find another place if you want afterwards. Got plenty of money to spend now.”  
She grinned at him. “That I do. As do you, my hardworking fallen angel,” she said while stroking his cheek gently. “I’ll pay ’em and then we go.”  
As Cathy went over to pay for their drinks, Urushihara observed the people around him. It really disgusted him, it always had, how some people stared at her. No matter what she wore or how she acted, she had always been the centre of attention for a decent amount of the male populace, sometimes even female. She, smartly, had decided to ignore it and just pretend that nothing was going on. He on the other hand always felt like committing murder the moment they stared at her in a funny way. With such greed and hunger, the way she always looked at her prey before giving them a fitting death. But he had to obey by the rules of this world and couldn’t kill anyone. Otherwise Maou would shout and him and Cathy...she would probably love it, but also scold him in some way or another. Mainly since other that staring at his beautiful girlfriend, they hadn’t done anything wrong, per se.  
“Hey, honey,” he suddenly heard.  
“Yeah. What’s it?”  
“Why you lookin’ so serious?”  
He rubbed his head irritated. “Think the heat’s been messin’ ’round with my brain.”  
“Oh. Well in that case we better also find something to eat. What d’ya say to that?”  
He smiled. “Sound great.”  
She laughed. “Well they do say that a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”  
“That’s some messed up anatomy,” he said with a frown.  
“It’s a saying, silly. C’mon, let’s go. We can’t take too long otherwise we’ll be late for the train and I can’t exactly teleport us over since all my magic’s gone now,” she said, stretching out her hand.  
“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’m comin,” he said, taking her hand.  
They exited the café and seconds later were greeted by darkness.


	34. Kidnapped

Cathy awoke to a small room, a cell. She looked around, assessing her situation. When she laid eyes on her unconscious boyfriend, she had to call in all her power to stop her from screaming. _He’s not dead_ , she assured herself as she knelt down and could feel his breath on her cheek. She nudged him slightly with her knee. “Hey, Lucifer.” No response. “Lucifer, Lucifer.” Every time she spoke his name, she could hear her voice cracking more and more, eventually leading her to start sobbing.  
“Oh, so his name’s Lucifer. Interesting. His parents must’ve hated him to name him after the devil,” a male voice said from the other side of the bars. “We’ll change that when we get to bidding. And don’t worry, he’s just still unconscious now ’cause we gave you both the same ’mount tranquilizer and you know, he’s lighter an’ all. It’ll take longer to wear off.”  
The moment Cathy heard the voice of this stranger, she instinctively moved between it and her boyfriend. She composed herself and said in a steady voice, “What are you talking about?”  
The man leant against the bars, showing a wolfish grin and nothing short of crazy in his eyes – crazier than hers if one was to be honest. “C’mon, girlie. You must know what bidding is. Surely. And the highest bidder wins. The price, of course, being you,” he eyed her, “your boyfriend,” his eyes drifted behind her, “or anyone else we put up for sale. So you know; may the best man or woman win.”  
“No,” she said in a small voice. “No, no, no, no,” she repeated more forcefully.  
“No?” he said curiously, as if it were the first time anyone had dared utter that word to him in the longest time.  
“Don’t. Please don’t auction him off. You can have me. I’ll do anything you want.” The words tasted sour in her mouth. “Just...just don’t touch him, please. I’m begging you.”  
The man laughed. “Oh, this is rich. A little shrimp like you ’aving the audacity to beg to me.” He grinned at her, showing off perfectly white teeth – all bleached, and some even fake. “You know what, I’ll consider it. Just ’cause I,” he licked his lips hungrily, “am curious as to what you taste like.” Then he eyed her one last time and left.  
Any colour that was still in Cathy’s face drained instantly. But-but she had to stay strong. Protecting Urushihara, protecting the man she loved, was a priority here. She couldn’t, just couldn’t, let this man break her. Even if his eyes and actions and everything about him were from nightmares – nightmares that she had stopped having not that long ago. Centuries probably. For some reason ever since she had joined the Devil King Army. Maybe then she had been distracted enough not to think about it. But now, now it was threatening to come back up. She needed to get away. Needed air. It was like it was slowly disappearing. And those black spots. Had they been there before? She couldn’t remember. But they were slowly closing in, consuming her.

Moments later she woke up and was greeted by Urushihara’s worried face. He opened his mouth to say something, but she didn’t give him the chance as she leant her head against his chest. Urushihara realised that his girlfriend probably wouldn’t want to talk about whatever had made her as pale as a ghost, so just put his head on hers in comfort. Until she finally told him about the man that had made even her scared. And eventually even, through lots of whimpering she told him what that man had implied before he had left. He growled, “I will kill him.”  
She shook her head in his chest. “We’re magicless. We...you don’t stand a chance, Lucifer.”  
“What do you suggest, then? Wait until he comes back...and tries to take you away from me?” His voice was a mixture of anger and worry.  
“No,” she said in a small voice. “We escape. He had a gun on him and possibly other weapons. When he comes back, I’ll kill him and then set everyone free.”  
“Everyone?”  
“I-I just can’t leave them here, Lucifer. He mentioned others. I can’t just leave them here to be auctioned off like that.”  
“But they’re just humans,” he grumbled.  
She fixed him with a determined, red-eyed – also from crying – stare. “At this moment, so are we.”  
He looked down, held his tongue against his teeth thoughtfully and eventually said, “Fine.”  
She nodded in thanks.  
“So how we gonna get outta these, anyway?” he asked, shaking the shackles on his back.  
She gave him a small guilty smile, making him look at her in confusion. She scooted further away from him, so she had enough space to move around and then started bringing her arms down the back of her legs, all this while making herself as small as possible. Once her arms made it to her feet, she just slipped them over them, resulting in her chained hands being in front of her and not behind her.  
Urushihara looked at her in bewilderment and a small, mischievous smile spread across his lips. “Didn’t know you were that flexible, Cat.”  
A small smile spread across her lips. “Hardly necessary to be so, so don’t see the need.”  
He almost raised his eyebrows in response, but thought better of it considering what had just happened.  
Then came her second surprise for Urushihara. She lifted up her hands and took out a small, light red clip that she always wore on the top of her head for reasons unknown to pretty much anyone around her.  
“So you gonna do it like in the movies?”  
She gave him a knowledgeable smile. “Not exactly, no.” She held the clip between her fingers and then took one of the sides off it, revealing a sharp point.  
“All this time...?” Urushihara asked amazed. He’d never even considered the possibility of his girlfriend having another weapon of sorts up her sleeve, considering how powerful she already was. And she had worn it from before he had met her, meaning...  
“Thought that if it were to happen to me again, I should be more prepared,” she admitted sorrowfully. Then she started carefully unlocking her shackles, making sure not to make any noise.  
“Oh, Catarina...,” Urushihara said, lost for words. They hardly ever spoke about it – there had never been a reason to. She had been young and he hadn’t been born yet. She had only once mentioned it in the demon realm after she had woken up drenched in sweat from a nightmare. He, of course, had wanted to hunt the culprits down and kill them. But she had already handled that after the events. And if she hadn’t, he was sure Gabriel would have. They had been friends even then and she hadn’t told him about what had happened to her till years later. He couldn’t blame her. Who the hell would even want to talk about such an experience with anyone? Especially her. She was so strong, even back then and yet...that had happened. At least they had gotten what they’d deserved. A live burning. Of course if he had gotten the chance, he would’ve let the pain last for much longer than she had.  
“Lucifer, can you please stop looking like that,” Cathy said, putting the shackles down next to her.  
“Sorry,” he said slightly disheartened.  
“It’s all right,” she said moving back towards him. “I get it.”  
Sadness burned in his eyes. “Maybe. But I don’t really get the right to be as sad as I am ’bout it.”  
She placed his hands on her lap so she could work on the lock easily. “’Course you do. You’re sad ’cause something bad happened to the person you love and there was nothing you could do about it. I’d also be sad if that were the case.” She sighed. “In some cases I am, ya know. You had hardly any love and attention from the people who should’ve been enveloping you with their love, but instead they were causing and trying to fix their own problems. And I just accepted it all, considering I’d decided to cut all ties with ’em. But that doesn’t change the fact that...I wish that I could’ve been there more for you, Lucifer.”  
His hands curled up into fists on her lap. “Crap’s sake, Cat, now you’ve proven me wrong again.”  
She chuckled softly. “Can’t be helped, honey. Tis what tis.” Just as the shackles came off Urushihara’s wrists, they heard footsteps. She quickly moved herself in front of the shackles and while she moved her own out of sight, whispered to Urushihara, “Keep your hands behind your back and pretend they’re still tied.”  
He did as instructed.  
The man came up just as close as before against the railing and said in a yearning voice, “Good news, girlie, we’ve decided to let your boyfriend go. Not like he wouldn’t bring us a lot of money, but the market would be so small considering how young he looks and it’s just not worth the pain. You on the other hand. Oh, you’ll make us rich beyond measure.” The hunger in his eyes increased. “And we most definitely haven’t forgotten your suggestion either.”  
Urushihara growled menacingly. “Don’t you dare lay a finger on her.”  
The man looked at Urushihara like he had just noticed an annoying bug. “And what are you going to do ’bout it, huh? A little pipsqueak like you hardly stands the chance against someone like me.”  
“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you. You’re literally dead meat.”  
The man laughed mockingly. “Sure.” He brought out a chain of keys and picked one out. Then he brought it to the door and unlocked it. He reached his hand towards Cathy, Urushihara forcing himself not to interfere, and just when it was a centimetre from her, she brought out her blade and stabbed it into his lower forearm and yanked it upwards. The man tried to free himself from this suddenly aggressive lady, but was promptly stopped by her knee on his chest. She looked down at him, her intent to murder as clear as daylight in her eyes. “So, before I totally kill you. I’m curious, have you tasted anyone before like you wanted to do me?”  
He opened his mouth and let out a scream, which was stopped by Cathy putting her hand over his mouth. “No, no. We don’t want anyone to hear us, do we now? That would spoil the fun.” She twisted the blade, making blood splutter out. “Now, when I remove my hand, you’re gonna answer me, got that?”  
The look in his eyes was a definite no.  
“Shame, would’ve liked for you to suffer longer.” Then she took the knife from his arm and severed his jugular. She stood up and noticed Urushihara grinning at her by the door. “You’re gonna hafta come up with a really good lie to explain all that blood to the cops.”  
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, cleaning off the blade and then picking up the rest of her clip. Then she rummaged through the man’s clothes, took out his gun and the chain of keys. “So, where to now?”  
The purple-haired fallen angel looked from one side to the other. “Seems like we’re in the middle of this part of the building. No idea where the others could be.”  
She sighed. “Got a little magic from him, but it’s not celestial so can’t really use Farlight Dazzle or anything like that. Guess we’ll just hafta look ’round.” She looked at her boyfriend seriously. “If we find a phone or something, you call the cops and get outta here, got that?”  
“Yeah, yeah. I know, ok. Don’t hafta be so serious ’bout it.”  
“Sorry. But that’s how I’m gonna be until we’re out of this craphole.”  
Urushihara took the lead towards the right and Cathy was soon next to him. As they continued onwards, they soon enough felt magic seeping into them. “Guess we’re going the right direction with all of this fear.”  
“Yeah,” Cathy said distracted, looking at the keys in her hand. She smiled. “Looks like our captors were nice enough to number ’em.” She handed them over to her boyfriend. “You hold onto ’em, so I can kill easier with the gun.”  
“Yeah. So are you gonna kill them all?”  
She studied the gun. It was a semi automatic, with 8 rounds. “See how it works. Probs won’t be so hard to work it, but still best to be cautious ’bout killlin’ and since it doesn’t have a silencer or anything, the moment I shoot, everyone else will be alerted.”  
“Seriously, dude, we’ve been watchin’ too many movies if you know all that crap from just looking at it,” he said in amazement.  
She gave him a winning grin. “Which is good in this case, right?”  
“Very.”  
She abruptly stopped dead in her tracks, putting her hand out to stop Urushihara from moving forward and then moved her hand towards her lips to indicate not to make any noise. She concentrated and could hear whimpering. _Definitely going the right way then._  
She continued walking and found the first filled cell. Just like with her cell, it was made for two. But it seemed like these two had been kept here for longer. That was to tell from the apparent fear in their eyes. She looked around and noticed the number plate next to the cell. She indicated it, leading Urushihara to look for the fitting key. Once he’d found the right one, he put it in the lock and carefully turned – careful not to make the slightest bit of noise. The lock made a small click. They were in.  
Cathy decided to take the lead and walked in with her kind smile. But the reassuring gesture was cancelled out since she was still covered with blood. “Don’t worry,” she said in a soft voice. “We’re here to rescue you. Promise.” She stretched out her hand behind her, her fallen angel giving her the key as implied. “See. I mean you no harm. Gonna set you free and then you can go back home.” The girl’s eyes of the one closest to her, black like their surroundings, moved towards the gun in Cathy’s hand. “Just a precaution, don’t worry, I won’t use it on any of you.”  
The girl nodded and turned around, allowing Cathy to free her from her chains. 

And so the couple went from cell to cell freeing the captives – all of them young; around the same age as Cathy or Urushihara’s official age. But strangely enough, no one had come to inspect what the hell had happened to their boss – or who they presumed was the boss of the whole operation.  
The group of former captives entered what they hoped was a route to a safe exit. But Cathy, being the natural predator she was, just didn’t feel right about this whole no enemies around thing.  
“Hey, look!” a boy, Shigeru Sekine, shouted while walking towards what looked like a phone. “A phone. We can call the cops.”  
Cathy, realising that it was probably a trap, ran over to him as he picked up the phone. The moment Sekine picked it up, dozens of holes appeared in the walls along with spears sticking out of them. “Crap,” was the last thing Cathy said before they were ambushed by a flood of small spears. All of the humans fearfully covered their head, hoping that would protect them from being imminently impaled. But much to their surprise there was no pain. Nothing. They looked up and saw a wall of fire between them and the spears. It was disintegrating each and every one of them.  
“Next time you see such an obvious trap, don’t go for it,” Cathy said through gritted teeth.  
All Sekine could do was stare at his saviour, who had covered him with her body the moment he had grabbed the phone, in wonder. Not only that; but the strain on her face could only mean that she was responsible for this shield.  
“Lucifer,” she called. He was by her side within seconds, the fastest any of them had seen him move so far. “’Zit a real phone?”  
He took the phone from the youth’s hand and inspected it. “Yeah.”  
“You know what to do.”  
He nodded seriously – the most serious he had looked since they had gotten into this mess. He stood up and told everyone to follow him towards the other door. The moment the last person had left through the door, Cathy dropped her shield and sprinted like hell towards the door. There she met with everyone else and told them that it would be easier to split into two groups and meet outside, where by then the police would have arrived.  
Urushihara looked at her pained, like he really didn’t want to do it. Who knew how strong their enemy really was? And considering that Cathy had probably used up most of her amassed magic to protect all of them, they were pretty much defenceless apart from the gun that she still had in her hand. And they both knew that they would have to save some up to erase everyone’s memories. He pulled lightly on her dress strap and kissed her. “Don’t die.”  
She gave him a small smile. “Don’t you dare either. I love you.”  
“I love you, Cat.”  
Then he was running up ahead, leading half of the group while constantly checking the phone to see whether it was in range yet.

Cathy waited a few minutes and then led the charge towards the exit. She knew that splitting up hadn’t necessarily been the best course of action, but it still made the group smaller – easier to sneak around. And she trusted Urushihara to get them out and call the police.  
And, the most chilling of all, knew that the enemy probably wouldn’t hurt him. That creepy man had told her after all that Urushihara would be let free, considering what she had offered up. She shuddered. She hoped that no matter who they ran into, it wouldn’t be someone like him. Someone who could make her blood run cold with mere suggestions and words. Is that what she was like to other people?  
She had never thought of it if she wanted to be honest. It had always been her trick of the trade. No matter who she had been up against – man, woman, young, old – she could have them shivering in fear or giving her valuable information with just the right tone and words. She had even used it for fun in her younger days, when life hadn’t been all death and destruction. When she had had other people, girls, she considered friends. They had always liked watching her manipulate people into giving her their phone number. She, of course, had never had the need for such a thing and had always given them away. But in the end it hadn’t only been ‘get the phone number off random people’, but also a way to learn how to read people. She liked that, reading people. To read how confident someone was, how kind they would be, just the sheer personality of the person in a few seconds. She had learnt all that while she had pretended to have fun with her friends.  
So even in the end, she had manipulated them. Made them think she was doing it for their benefit of getting a hot date. While she had never wanted any of that. She knew she could’ve. Her best friend wouldn’t have been such a bad pick for a first date, even if she had asked him in a weird way. But she had never felt connected to him the way she felt towards Urushihara.  
_Such a pain_ , she thought as she cocked her gun.  
“Um...Miss Catarina,” a woman, Yuki Yamamoto, asked concerned.  
“I can sense they’re near. Be careful and whatever any of you do,” she fixed them all with a deadly serious stare, “don’t go in front of me. Some of you may be strong, but I’ve spent most of my life fighting.”  
“Yeah. So what? You’ve got a bit of magic. Ain’t gonna deny that that’s cool. But I’ve yet to see you actually take someone down.”  
She gave him a warm smile. “Yeah. Got lucky in that case. But you know; I’ve already taken someone down. Dunno who he was though. Some creep that told us ’bout the auction. Very hungry and crazy eyes.”  
Some girls whimpered.  
Cathy let out a low growl. _So he has. Why do they get such quick deaths? It’s not fair._  
“Ok. Fine. What’d you do then? Strangle him.”  
She turned around. “Really shouldn’t be wastin’ your time on pointless questions. Just know that that blood coverin’ me isn’t mine.”  
He put his hand over his mouth to stop himself from throwing up. He also noticed that some of his companions had paled slightly. This woman. She wasn’t human. Definitely not. Even before she had displayed that magic, something had seemed off about her. The way she held herself and talked. And definitely the way she held that gun in her hand. So casually, like she wasn’t just holding something that could take another human being’s life within seconds. Would she kill them as well if she didn’t deem them worthy enough to be saved anymore? Why was she even saving them? Maybe it was some kind of ploy so that she could sell them all instead. Divide and conquer was a great battle strategy after all. He needed to get out of here, get everyone out of here before she decided to turn on them and kill them all. The only thing that pulled him back from his train of thought was a loud gunshot.  
“See, no silencer. Bad guys really suck at being bad,” Cathy said, inspecting the gun.  
But everyone else wasn’t looking at her anymore; they were looking at the dead body by her feet. This time, some people did throw up.  
She looked around and noticed what was going on. _Crap. Guess humans have weaker stomachs. Definitely young ones. Really gonna hafta conserve all my magic to get their memories erased._ She looked at all of them and noticed that Yuki wasn’t looking as horrified as the rest. _She gone into shock?_ “Hey, Yuki.”  
“Yes,” she said uncertainly.  
“You okay?”  
Yuki nodded meekly. “You just took that man’s life like it was no big deal.”  
Cathy scoffed. “I’d hardly consider these people men after what some of them have done and were planning on doing.” She studied the group and noticed that the youth who had spoken up against her moments earlier was looking at her in pure disgust. _Oh, that’s new. Definitely from the human male perspective._ She had to stop herself from smiling. Even though it had started of terribly, it was turning into something fun. Totally worth Maou’s lecture afterwards. She knocked against the metal wall, after noticing that the barfers had stopped throwing up their last meal. “After that lovely display, from both sides, let’s get moving. We can’t ’ave ’em catching up on us under any circumstances. Next time you see me almost killing someone, just look away if you must. But be vigilante at all times.”  
“Why should we listen to you?” the youth said, nearing her. “You just killed a man in cold blood.”  
“I’m pretty sure I said it to your companion, but I’d hardly consider him a man anymore. Also, you know, given the chance he would’ve done the same.”  
“You’re supposed to be the better person,” he said through gritted teeth.  
“Why? ’Cause we’re the protagonist of some great hero story where it’s shown that if you don’t kill, show mercy, we’ll have a clear conscience? Sorry, too late for that.” Now she was smiling at him and it, along with all the blood still covering her, was gut turning.  
“Who are you?”  
The light danced in her eyes. “Saviour. Of this place that is. So c’mon, let’s go before anyone starts wondering why the hell we’re taking so long.”  
They opened the door to another room and this one was filled with people. All of them with some unhinged look in their eyes, though some were hiding it better than others.  
Cathy looked around and saw that on the left wall, near a bunch of boxes, there was a grate – one that already had been unscrewed. _Oh honey, I love you_ , she thought with a smile. Even though she did wonder how he had managed to sneak past them all. But then again, they all seemed so consumed with their own things that they probably hadn’t noticed a purple-haired youth and others sneaking past them. She met eyes with everyone and then indicated the grate. Most importantly, she specified that they had to be silent.  
And so the stealth operation to get to the grate begun. Cathy led the way and once they had made it to the grate, she opened it and ushered everyone inside. The last one being her new glaring partner, Ishimaru Greca. Ishimaru glared at her one last time, clenching his hands behind his back and went through the grate. Cathy looked one last time, making sure that no one had noticed them. She bit back a curse. The person who had been sitting on the big chair at the dais – smoking and laughing – had disappeared. Her instincts told her he was behind her before his voice said, “I was wondering when you’d show up, girlie.”


	35. “Live or die?”

She grabbed the gun and spun around to face him. Damn, that look in his eyes. It was the same as the man she had killed; apart from the fact that somehow he seemed more human. She elevated herself from her crouched position. “What are you talking about?”  
“Oh, you know, just been keepin’ an eye on your escape escapade. Looked really interesting, so I thought I’d indulge you and let you escape. Or at least try. The doors are locked at all times, and nothing, not even that magical flame of yours, can open them.”  
“I think you’re underestimating that magical flame of mine if you think it can’t break through some pathetic doors,” Cathy retorted with a snarl.  
He grinned at her in interest. “I guess we’ll see. But I’m sure that boyfriend of yours doesn’t have that kind of magic, so he won’t make it out either.”  
She gave him a smirk in response. “Also underestimating my boyfriend. Really not smart.”  
“So he also has some kind of magic, huh?” he took a step closer.  
“Not denying, nor confirming. Just saying that he shouldn’t be underestimated. He can get crap done when he wants to.”  
“And I guess he’s doin’ this all to please you. Free you and others from your horrible captives, so you wouldn’t have to experience your worst nightmares.”  
“You don’t know the first thing about my worst nightmares.”  
He cocked his head. “Maybe not. But I’ve got a pretty good idea of what it is. Jules was always a greedy guy. The moment he saw a pretty girl, he wanted to taste them and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.” He indicated a hole in the wall. “That’s the latest damage after he came to talk about you.” He eyes took in her body. “Can understand why. Though I’m more of a classy gal kinda guy.”  
Cathy snorted. “Classy gal? Really? Oh, c’mon. That’s just not true.”  
“Why not?” he asked, a glint of hurt in his eyes.  
“You kidnap people and sell them to the highest bidder. There’s nothing classy about it, so why would you go for a classy gal? Or is it to make yourself feel better for everything you’ve done?”  
He leant against the wall. “What ’bout you then, huh? Don’t you go for distraction to make yourself feel better?”  
“No. I don’t need to. Anyone and everyone I kill deserved it. No exceptions. The only thing I need distractions for is so I don’t end up feelin’ bored outta my mind.”  
He chuckled. “Oh, really?”  
Cathy cursed her brain for being so slow today. This guy couldn’t just be the big bad that they were trying to escape from. He was so casual and laid-back, not giving off any hint of ill intent. She had those moments as well, but even then she let others in on it. And he was just talking to her. Like talking to an escaped prisoner was the most normal thing in the world for him. Maybe it was. “So you know, for a group who auction off people, your hideouts pretty crappy.”  
“Oh, you think,” he said innocently looking around. “Guess just never felt the need for such high standard stuff.”  
“So if it’s not for the money, why’re doing it then?”  
He smiled at her. “You know, for a murderess, you’re really interesting.”  
“Answer the question,” she said, holding the gun against his chest.  
“Family business,” he said simply.  
“What?”  
“Heard me. My family’s a buncha criminals all over the world. We were allowed to choose our trade and I chose this ’cause it seemed interesting. You most definitely are making it so.”  
Cathy didn’t know whether to feel horrified, disgusted or proud that there would be a family so dedicated to breaking the law. So she just frowned. “How is selling humans interesting?”  
He waved his hand dismissively. “Come now, Catarina, you must’ve already figured out that I don’t actually sell ’em. They just drop off the grid, is all. No one’s ever harmed.”  
She raised her eyebrows at him. “Apart from the girls who you let Jules handle.”  
“Ah, yes that. You see...” Much to Cathy’s surprise, he actually seemed nervous about the explanation. “...I took him in ’cause well yeah, good ‘security’. He said that he’d do it for his prizes. If not, he’d call up the fam and tell ’em all ’bout it.”  
“And what if he told them about it?”  
“Huh?”  
Cathy let out an irritated sigh. _And I’m the most patient of the two of us._ “What if Jules had told your family ’bout it? What then? Would they ’ave sent someone over to kill you or mess you up in some other kinda way?”  
“They would’ve disinherited me. I didn’t want to bring shame to my family. I’m the only child.”  
Cathy actually rubbed her face in frustration. “So what? I’m the only child and so is my boyfriend and we’ve both messed up in pretty bad ways, not as bad as his parents, but still. It is your life. Your family honour shouldn’t depend on how bad of a person you are. You should be who you want to be. Or,” she played with the safety, “can take the easy way out right now.”  
“You will be arrested.”  
“No one will remember a thing. And if you decide to live, neither will you.”  
He gulped. “I’ve sunk too far. I don’t deserve to live.”  
“Oh, for the sake of everything unholy. I can’t believe I’m giving a human being life advice. Listen, life’s tough, there are ups and downs and you screw up. And sometimes the ’mounts that you’ve screwed up are more that the ’mounts that you ’aven’t. But that doesn’t mean that you should give up. If you’ve reached rock bottom, the only way is up. Up by making your life better. But it’s your choice, so whatever.”  
“You’re an angel,” he said in wonder.  
“Not anymore, I’m not. So what is it? Live or die?  
“I want to live,” he said, letting the reality of who he was speaking to sink in.  
“Good.” She took her thumb of the safety latch. “And live. Ok? Not just survive like you’ve been doing, but actually live. And if I find you or anyone you’re connected with getting up to stuff I don’t approve of, you’re dead.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Don’t thank me. Just get your life in order.” She held up her finger to his forehead. “Does anyone else here know of my powers?”  
“No. I just watched them all by myself. As a movie.”  
She smiled at him, a smile he hoped to remember no matter what. “You’ll forget my name, face and the fact that I have magic. But words and actions will stay like a foggy dream.  
“Ok.”  
Then her finger lit up. When the light was gone, she had disappeared. A beautiful, blood clad mysterious woman with great life advice.


	36. A question of trust

Cathy came out of the grate and noticed that her group had been waiting for her. “What you still doing here? Get outta here. They’re not comin’, but time’s still of the essence.”  
“We were just wondering whether you’d betrayed us. You were probably colluding with them.” Ishimaru stepped forward.  
“No. I was makin’ sure that no one would follow you, you dimwit.”  
“Oh, really?” He scoffed. “Why’d he then come and talk to you like you were old friends?”  
“’Cause males like to do that sometimes. Don’t understand it either. So we done here? ’Cause I really feel like gettin’ outta here. I have a train to catch.” She started walking forward, but Ishimaru stepped in front of her. She noticed he was holding something in his hands. “What cha got there, Ishimaru?” she asked with a mischievous grin.  
“Your newest body part,” he said and charged, knife in hand, straight for Cathy. She managed to dodge the first attack, seconds, third, fourth. “Oh dear. You have no technique, do you? You’ve probably never even hurt anyone seriously, been in a real fight.”  
“Shut up,” he said and charged again.  
_Least this fight is making everyone scared._ She saw that her opponent’s fighting skills weren’t going to improve anytime soon, so she decided to end it. She grabbed onto his outstretched, knife wielding arm and twisted it. Twisted it and twisted it until he finally dropped the knife out of pain. She let go. Then she walked towards Ishimaru and cornered him against a wall. “Listen, Ishimaru, I get that it’s difficult to trust. In this whole damn world there are just three people who I truly trust, but that doesn’t mean that you hafta go and try and kill someone after they’ve taken a person’s life. Definitely not if that life was taken in you and your companions’ defence.”  
He nodded meekly.  
“Good,” she said, turning around. “Now let’s get-” But before she could say another word, she felt an intense stinging in her stomach. “Oh, c’mon,” she said, more annoyed than anything. “Who?”  
“I thought you were going to kill him.”  
She felt the strength in her legs leaving her. Generally her body could handle simple stab wounds like this, but because she was nearly out of magic there was nothing stopping it from taking her down. “You stabbed me after I told him off.” She leant against the wall. _Can’t use magic to fix this. Gotta erase their memories._ She could see all eyes on her. Could just as well do it now. She looked towards the way outside. _Lucifer, if I don’t survive this, I am really, really sorry. And try not to kill him._ She concentrated every single last drop of magic into her one spell. Her eyes were glowing red now. And then they subsided, back to their normal red.  
Everyone looked around confused. Then someone let out a scream. She had noticed that Cathy had slumped on the floor and was now bleeding.  
One of the girls, she couldn’t recognise who, knelt down and moved her hands towards the knife.  
“Don’t,” Cathy rasped. “Will...make...worse. Only surgeons.”  
The girl looked unsure of what to do. Move her to a safer place? Surely there were already ambulances here. Maybe send off one of the group and shout for them to come here. Yes, that would make the most sense.  
“Nana,” she called out to a friend.  
“Yes.”  
“Go outside, you can take whoever you want. Find an ambulance. Be quick.”  
“Of course,” Nana said and left with some friends.  
“You seem to get along well with everyone,” Cathy rasped.  
“Save your strength. Don’t talk.”  
She smiled at her kindly. “You really don’t know anything ’bout this, do you? Talking helps...the injured stay conscious. And with...an injury like mine, if I slip into unconsciousness, it can be fatal.” _I’d know. I’ve done it to some in the past after all._  
“Ok.” She nodded in understanding. “Tell me about yourself then.”  
“What’d you want to know?”  
“How did you meet your boyfriend?”  
“Were friends for a while, eventually feelings developed.”  
“So childhood friends?” she asked with a smile.  
“Something like that, yeah. It’s really nice, ’cause I knew from...from the moment I started...dating him...what he’d be like. Hardly any surprises. And I still love him no matter what.”  
The girl looked around in panic. She could tell that it was becoming more difficult for Cathy to speak. She just hoped that her friend would make it back in time.

Minutes later the door crashed open and a male voice asked a simple question, “Who?” The perpetrator was indicated and pressed him against the wall. “I’ll kill you, you hear me! I’ll kill you. Rip every part of your stupid crap body apart and enjoy every last second of it. You bastard. Thinking you can hurt my Cat in any way.” Urushihara smiled at him cruelly. “Now I get why she enjoys some things so much.”  
“Hanzou, don’t.”  
He let go of the perpetrator instantly and was by Cathy’s side. “Cat, I’m sorry. I should’ve been here.”  
“Nah. I’m fine. You know...it doesn’t actually hurt as much...as I thought it would.”  
“Pretty sure that’s the shock.”  
“Not sure. Haven’t lost that much blood.”  
The worry increased on Urushihara’s face. “You can heal her, right?” he asked one of the paramedics.  
“Our surgeons will do their best.”  
“I don’t want your best! I want you to guarantee me that she will make it!”  
“Sorry, sir, but we’re only human and therefore can’t do inhuman feats.”  
_Only human, huh?_


	37. Call for help

The surgery took longer than Urushihara could bear. He had told Maou about it by using one of the pay phones. Maou had freaked out, but had decided to stay in Sasazuka, considering he was confident Cathy would make it through and that he wouldn’t lecture either of them considering it had all been self defence.  
Urushihara just couldn’t stop thinking about what the paramedic had said about the surgeon being only human. He knew someone who wasn’t who’d happily heal her and definitely help him kill the perpetrator. He just didn’t know how to reach him. He could send some of his demonic force out, but it would be useless. What if Gabriel felt it? It’s not like he’d come and check out all the fights they were in. Maybe he was near a computer. Urushihara took out his computer, which had miraculously remained unscathed. This unfortunately couldn’t be said for Cathy’s phone. One of the kidnappers had broken it after Maou had tried to call her multiple times. While he was thinking of all kinds of ways to reach the archangel, one of the nurses came over to him to tell him he could see Cathy now.  
On the way over to Cathy’s recovery room, the nurse offered him a tissue. He begrudgingly accepted it and blew his nose and wiped his tears. This probably was the first time he had cried so intensely since...he couldn’t remember the last time. The nurse opened the door and said, “It may look worse than it is. So please stay calm.”  
He staggered. She looked so pale. So damn pale. As pale as she had been when she had fainted out of fright. And the colour in her lips didn’t look to promising either. “She’ll live.” He wasn’t sure whether it was a question or something to reassure himself with.  
“Probably, yes. The surgery was a tough one, but she pulled through. Now all we can do is wait. The first hours after surgery are always the most important ones.”  
Urushihara nodded meekly. “Yeah.”  
“I’ll leave you two alone then. If anything happens, just press the button. I’ll be back in a few hours to check up on her.”  
Once the nurse had gone, he moved slowly towards Cathy’s bed. It was so scary. Literally something out of a nightmare, seeing her like this – so weak and frail, like the smallest thing could kill her. He really was going to make that person suffer. For as long as he could keep him alive. Just him and his victim. Truly great. He held onto her hand and said in a weak voice, “Hey, Cat, it’s me. Lucifer.”  
A pained moan response.  
“Don’t have to talk if it hurts. Really. You can just listen to me talk. You ’ave mentioned in the past how great my voice sounds.”  
A smile.  
“I know that if we could do it all again, that you would’ve done the same, but I think that I’d probably stay by your side the whole way. I hate leaving you alone. Always have and always will. No matter what. Even if I know that you’ll be fine, the protective part of me just yells that’s it’s stupid to leave you by yourself. Can you believe that?”  
Now she gave him a softer smile in response.  
“Though might also be the case for you, you know.’ Sidering how protective you can be of me sometimes. We’re both going to hell for this.”  
She opened her eyes. They were soft, with a hint of pain. “I love you. Also, we were always gonna go to hell.”  
He smiled at her, the pain still in his eyes. “That’s true. How you feeling?”  
“Some stupid reason, my tum hurts like hell. Guess they’ll give me all kindsa drugs to get over it.”  
“Even though you’re suffering, you still have your attitude,” Urushihara said with an incredulous smile.  
“Would you have me any other way?”  
“Not in the slightest.”  
Cathy laughed, then winced. “Damn, human bodies really do suck.”  
“Yeah. Maou said something like that as well during my attack on him.”  
She gave him an incredulous smile, then thought of something. “You tell ’im ’bout what happened?”  
“Pretty much. Sounded really worried, but he believes you’ll be all right.”  
“That’s good. What about you?”  
He raised his eyebrows. “’Course I do. There’s nothing that can take the great Catarina down forever.”  
“Now that is something that I’ll allow you to be right about,” she said, caressing his face.  
“Good. Now get some more sleep. I want you to heal quickly, so we get outta here and go back home.”  
“Don’t they have internet here?”  
“’Course they do. Just want to get better soon. Sleep, Catarina.”  
“But I wanna talk to you more,” she said in a pouting manner.  
“Won’t work, Cat,” he said defiantly, with a playful glint in his eyes.  
“Meanie.”  
He smiled at her affectionately, making her soften.  
“Fine. I’ll go to sleep. But not without a kiss.”  
“I’ll happily oblige to that,” he said as he kissed her. When he pulled back, her face had turned peaceful – like a reverse Sleeping Beauty.  
After watching over his girlfriend for a while, and making sure no one was near, he closed his eyes, muttered, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Then said in a slightly louder voice, “Hey, Gabriel. I don’t know whether you can hear me or not. Probs not. Stupid waste of time. But kinda need ya here. Catarina needs you.” He saw no harm in adding a potential lie, considering he had no idea in which direction his girlfriend’s health was going, so added, “Her life could be in danger.” Then he opened his eyes again and waited.  
Not a minute later, Gabriel arrived and when he laid eyes on Cathy he staggered back against the window with a paling face. Then his face turned serious and he took out his sword Durandall and muttered the words, “Who?”  
Urushihara jumped in front of the archangel. “Tell ya later. This is important. She needs your help. And put it away. We’re in a hospital,” he hissed.  
“Since when do you care ’bout that?”  
“Since my girlfriend’s one of the patients. Will you help?”  
“’Course, ’course. But with what?” he said, slowly slipping back into his carefree attitude.  
“Healing her,” Urushihara said simply.  
Gabriel looked on surprised from boyfriend to girlfriend. “You want me to heal her? I’m not Lailah, y’know.”  
“I know. What’s wrong, don’t want to help her anymore?”  
He shook his head violently. “No. But why me, mm-kay? Could ask anyone.”  
“No. And I’m pretty sure you know why. That’s also the reason why she’s in this hospital bed and not back in Villa Rosa Sasazuka.”  
“She doesn’t have any magic left,” the red-eyed archangel realised. “What happened? She’s always got a bit of magic in her.”  
“Like I said, tell ya later. Now will you do it or not?”  
“’Course. Where’s the wound?”  
“Her right abdomen.”  
This time Gabriel looked nervous. It was fine. He’d be fine. He was just helping his best friend heal. Nothing strange about that. Definitely since it was on her boyfriend’s request. He slowly neared her bed and she let out whimper.  
“Dude, what’d you do?” Urushihara asked accusingly.  
“I didn’t do anything, mm-kay. She just made that noise.” _Does she know I’m here?_  
The whimper was followed by more whimpers and then suddenly Cathy started begging. Begging for something, someone, to stop.  
“She’s ’aving that kinda nightmare. I thought they were over,” Urushihara said in a small voice.  
Gabriel continued looking on at his best friend who he didn’t know how to console. He knew that she had had nightmares about that day. That they would take forever to end. But Urushihara had just said that she had stopped having them, meaning... “Did anyone, you know...”  
“No,” Urushihara said, back on the chair beside her, holding onto her hand. “Someone implied that he would but she killed him. She was with other people the rest of the time, so it wouldn’t ’ave been possible.”  
“They always find a way,” he muttered. “Then that implication must’ve really hit home.”  
“Yeah. I wasn’t conscious yet when it ’appened, but it had made her faint outta fear.”  
“Did she make him suffer?”  
Urushihara shifted his eyes towards his conversation partner for a second. “A bit. Could see she wanted to do it for longer, but we hadta get outta there.”  
Gabriel nodded. “Well whoever put her in this hospital, is gonna suffer.” He continued walking towards her bed and put his hand near her head. “Really should’ve gotten rid of ’em. Would’ve saved ’er a lot of sleepless nights.”  
“Yeah. And then you would’ve gone against her wishes. She wanted them ’cause they were part of her. They built her up to the person she is now. If she hadn’t known ’bout all that, she would’ve probably been a different person.”  
“A happier person,” he said, distracted.  
“She’s been happy for the past coupla centuries, don’t try to change that,” Urushihara said sternly, seeing what was going on inside the archangel’s head.  
“But she could’ve been happier without knowing ’bout that, mm-kay,” Gabriel said annoyed. “There was no reason for her to remember.”  
“Beside the fact that she wanted to? You respected her wishes then, Gabriel, do the same now and just heal her.”  
Gabriel looked at Urushihara as if he was prepared to throw the fallen angel out of the door and start a brawl with him. Mainly because he was right. He hated it. Being proven wrong by this fallen angel and in the end it also proved him right. It proved him right by showing him that these two belonged together. Whatever, he couldn’t let it get to him. He uncovered the right side of Cathy’s upper body. They had changed her into the hospital’s pyjamas apparently. Light green with a light blue logo, he smiled, only stopping when he heard a growl from opposite him.  
“You’re not here to stare at what you didn’t get, Gabriel. Just get on with it.”  
“Yeah. Yeah.” He said, placing his hand over her wound. She winced and he winced in sympathy, but continued his treatment. While his magic was healing her body, he asked, “So, what ’appened?”  
“Got kidnapped, said they were gonna sell us, Catarina killed the bastard who said he would do those things to her, freed everyone else there, she used most of her magic to defend them, split up and afterwards heard that she’d been stabbed.”  
“That’s a lot, mm-kay. Really lot to go through. Do the humans remember?”  
“Nah. Both erased their memories. That’s why she’s got nothing left now.”  
Gabriel nodded solemnly. He still wanted to say what he hadn’t been able to say after he had failed to kidnap Alas Ramus, but it would be so weird to say it to her while she was unconscious with her boyfriend here.  
Urushihara noticed a familiar glint in the archangel’s eyes and asked, “Why did you never tell her? Ask her?”  
Gabriel locked eyes with the fallen angel. “’Cause it could’ve ruined our friendship.”  
“Doubt that she’d be so hung up ’bout a relationship gone wrong. Definitely with you.”  
“Maybe not for her, mm-kay, but for me. It’d be like gettin’ the best thing in the world and realising that it’s only temporarily ’cause we don’t belong together.”  
He sighed. “Yeah. And not telling her? I’m sure she wouldn’t have minded that.”  
Gabriel made an uncomfortable face. “’Cause she kept tellin’ me she loved me in a platonic way, mm-kay. D’you know how weird it’d be if I suddenly told her that?”  
Urushihara leant back in his chair. “Maybe. But she still deserves to know. Not tellin’ her for millennia is so lame.”  
He nodded in response and took his hand off his best friend’s stomach. “There’s still a scar, but I’ve healed the rest of it.”  
“Yeah. Thanks.”  
“So the guy...”  
“You can ’ave him. Don’t think Cat would want me to. Just make sure he suffers; Catarina style. He’s bein’ held by the police ATM.”  
Gabriel nodded. “Thanks. Bye.”  
“Bye,” he said as he watched the archangel disappear.

Later that day the same nurse came to check up on Cathy and much to her surprise it turned out that her wound had healed entirely, the only evidence that there ever had been one was a scar across her abdomen. She called the doctor and she did some tests, making sure that whatever had caused this hadn’t been harmful to her patient. After being sure that everything was fine, Cathy was discharged.  
“So you wanna go straight back to Sasazuka?”  
Cathy nodded in response. From the moment she had woken up and found her stomach healed, she had known something was up. But in the end, she didn’t mind what Urushihara had done. She was healed and had an awesome scar to remember it by. “Can’t leave them alone for too long.”  
“True.” They went to the train station and got the Chosi Electric Railway at Inuboh, then transferred to the JR Sobu Main Line in Chiba all the way back to Shinjuku. They had been lucky that the trains hadn’t been full, so managed to sit down everywhere and rest. The couple arrived back in Shinjuku and Cathy suggested that they could take a taxi back to Villa Rosa Sasazuka and that she would pay for it.  
“You’re seriously spendin’ a lot of your money now, Cat. Save it.”  
“Nah. ’S all right. I’ll just make some more later and it’s best if you spend none now, so you get the chance to do it later,” she replied with a smile.  
“If you’re sure.”  
Once they arrived at the apartment complex, Cathy all but flew out of the taxi after having paid the driver and taking her shoulder bag out with her. She ran up the stairs with a smile, Urushihara calmly walking behind her while inspecting the roof curiously. When she reached the second floor, she flung open the door to the Devil’s Castle and inspected it.  
“I’m back,” she said, relieved to see everything looking fairly normal.  
“Cathy, you’re back,” Maou said, feeling like a weight had been lifted off him.  
“Were you worried, my lord?” she asked with a curious smile.  
“A bit,” he admitted. “But I still knew you’d make it through.”  
“That I did. And I got a scar. You wanna see? You wanna see?” she asked, a bit too excited considering what she was talking about.  
“Um...sure. I guess.”  
She lifted up the right part of her shirt and showed her scar to the king of all demons. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I always like scaring my prey that I don’t get to kill but to have one myself is really interesting.”  
“Doesn’t it hurt?”  
“Nah. It’s fine. It’s just there, you know.”  
While Maou was inspecting his subordinate’s scar, which he thought was weird considering she had just recently been stabbed; he heard a small female peep from the door. He looked over and could see the confusion wash over Chiho’s face. “Oh no.”  
Cathy looked up. “Chiho Sasaki. Hello. Guess what I got,” she said, walking over to the teenage girl who seemed near tears. “What’s wrong?”  
“Think it’s ’cause you’re showing Maou more of your great bod than usual,” Urushihara said casually from his computer desk.  
She smiled at him exasperated and then turned back to Chiho. “Well you don’t have to worry ’bout that. It’s fine. I was just showing him the scar I got. Nothing more.”  
“Sc-scar?”  
“Yeah. Didn’t he tell you about what happened to me and Lucifer?”  
“He did mention it, yeah.”  
“Good.”


	38. Lost treasure

When everyone came back to Villa Rosa Sasazuka, they noticed that some things had been changed, but the biggest change of them all was that it now had an HDTV hook-up. This spurred Maou on to buy a TV and after having laying out some convincing points, Ashiya agreed. Maou, Ashiya, Cathy – who wanted to come along to see what kind of TV’s this human world had – along with Suzuno, who was now considering getting herself a TV, went to the electronic appliance store with Rika Suzuki, Emi’s work colleague and an acquaintance of Ashiya and Suzuno, to help them make a choice.

While everyone was out, Urushihara was the only person still in Villa Rosa Sasazuka. He sensed something was up and shifted his eyes to look behind him. “Dude, I should’ve known you were still in Japan. What’re you here for? Maou’s out right now.” _As is Catarina._  
“Oh, I know, silly. I was watching. I’m here ’cause I wanted to talk to you!” Gabriel said, having taken his sandals off. “Yow, it’s like a sauna in here! You sure you should be running a computer in this heat?” He started looking through the fridge and said excitedly, “Ooh, an ice pop! I’ve been addicted to 13 flavours’ ice cream lately. That new chocolate mint flavour they got...delish!”  
Urushihara turned towards the archangel angrily and said irritated, “Can you just say what you want? Otherwise, I’m gonna call Maou and tell him you stormed in and raided our fridge. Gabriel.”  
“Sheesh, he’s got you that tight on a budget?” Gabriel said with an amused smile. Gabriel looked at the fallen angel with interest and said, “Oh, don’t be such a grouch! What’s wrong with a little something for the visitors? Also, you kinda owe me one for saving Catarina.”  
“Yeah. Thanks for that and for giving that bastard a fitting death. Just tell me what you want and get outta here. Don’t blame me if they make you pay for the wall you knocked down.”  
“Hey! That’s not exactly how I remember it, mm-kay. It was that Alas Ramus girl, right?”  
“Yeah, and who made her do that?”  
“You’re the one he’s gonna get ‘pissed off at’, though?” Gabriel said thoughtfully while finishing his ice cream and then chucked it in a box.  
“That box is for plastic. The trash is next to the fridge.”  
“Oh, don’t be such a stick-in-the-,” Gabriel said cheerfully.  
“I told you. I’m the one he’s gonna yell at. All right? Just go away! You’re driving me crazy. I seriously can’t understand how Cat can stand to spend so much time with you!”  
Gabriel raised his eyebrows up in surprise. “Really? Pretty sure you know how.”  
“Yeah. By being there for her and making her laugh so much. I wasn’t even born yet.” Urushihara sighed.  
“You were the ‘Golden Child’. The archangel closest to Mr. Big himself. And you’re griping about getting yelled at. Now that’s rich. You actually care about separating the garbage? That’s rare, mm-kay,” Gabriel said with interest, trying to ignore what Urushihara’s words were doing to him.  
Urushihara closed his eyes. “Yeah, sorry. That was then, and this is now. Besides, you’re the one who talked about how important image is to us. If you’re gonna call yourself an angel, at least try to recycle.”  
“Why’re you with that young demon wannabe, anyway. I mean, I never caught you in your glory days...so I wanted to know what you were thinking...when you joined the demons.”  
Urushihara leaned down on his hand and said, “’Cause I was bored.”  
“Bored?” Gabriel started fishing something out of his robe. “Catarina also said somethin’ like that. Well, wrote.”  
“Huh?”  
“Ah, here it is,” he said, taking out a piece of paper that still looked brand new. “She wrote ’bout how she thinks being a demon would be more interesting than spending all her life up there. Stuff like that.”  
“She write that to you before she left?” Urushihara asked in a deadly calm.  
“Yes.”  
He fixed Gabriel with a glare, making the archangel realise that if this fallen angel had all of his magic, or even enough, he would be surrounded by heat orbs. “You really are pathetic. Keeping stuff of her, _my girlfriend_ , ’cause you couldn’t have her.”  
“Huh?” he asked, staggering.  
Urushihara sighed. “Cat might not know it, ’cause she’s blissfully unaware when it comes down to that kinda crap. But I know; I’ve known from the moment I saw the two of you together. I’m pretty sure all of heaven knows. And now I’m sure everyone here also knows. You weren’t exactly being subtle ’bout it.”  
Gabriel rubbed his head in irritation. “Yeah, well, it’s difficult, ya know.”  
“Wouldn’t be if you’d just asked her out or told her instead of acting like a child ’bout it.”  
“Dunno how you’re picturin’ it, but pretty sure that if I’d done either, it wouldn’t have worked out.”  
Urushihara sighed. “If you say so.” Concerning the earlier conversation he added while turning back to his computer, “It’s fun here.”  
“Fun? Sitting in this sweat lodge...cowering in fear of your new lord screaming at you about recycling? Like, not to rub it in...but I’d take the net café I call home any day,” Gabriel said, noticing the topic change.  
“It’s fun. And at least it’s not-”  
“Whoa! No making fun of internet cafés,” Gabriel put in quickly, prepared to defend his current home.  
“At least it beats staying up there. Staring into space for hours on end until it drives you insane.”  
“Yeah, that’s kinda turning into a huge pain for us, mm-kay?”  
“Helps pass the time, right?” Urushihara said with a dour smile. “I hung out with Satan ’cause I had nothing to do much to do, dude. Cat also seemed interested in it, so I went along. No other reason. So, we done here? If that’s all you need, the door’s that-a-way,” he said, paying more attention to his computer now.  
“Ah, there’s the guy!”  
“Wha...?” Urushihara asked confused, turning towards Gabriel.  
“I slogged my sorry hide down to beautiful sun-soaked Sasazuka because I wanted to ask about that Satan guy.”  
“So?” Urushihara said, turning back away. “Talk to him yourself. He’s somewhere in Shinjuku.” _With Catarina if he wants to see her again._  
“Ahh, but he’s not gonna tell me anything now, is he? Plus, he’s still pretty young, mm-kay? I just thought asking the likes of you...would save us a lot of headaches.”  
“Huh?”  
“What I’m trying to say is; I’m talking about someone else. The ‘Satan’ you were playing around with. Not the greasy-haired social dropout you’re bumming crash space from.”  
Urushihara sneered.  
“I’m talking about the Devil Overlord Satan. You know him.”  
“Oh. Is that it?” Urushihara said unaffected, turning back towards his computer. “You made me sneer at you for nothing.”  
“Heyyy! What’d you mean 'is that it’?” Gabriel asked desperately. “If you didn’t notice, I was trying to have a serious conversation, mm-kay!?”  
“I’d be a second class bum if I cared.”  
“Oh, what. Do you get perks from being a first-class bum?”  
“I don’t need to worry about sucking up. A fist-class bum has to toe the line with whoever he’s leeching off of. It’s kind of like a sport.”  
“You should apologise to all the athletes of the world!” Gabriel said unimpressed. “Also, how is that not caring about other people?”  
“It’s not. I just gauge how much my opponent can stand and work within those rules. If you want to be a true bum, not pursuing education, employment, or training, you need the resolve to go through with it – all the way. If I broke a rule and he kicked me out, I’d just be homeless.” Urushihara smiled darkly.  
“Whatever it is you’re trying to convince me of, it’s not working!” Then he realised something else, “Is that why’re not living together?”  
Urushihara’s cheeks flushed as he smiled. “Yeah. She supported me straight away when I told her ’bout it. Also, you don’t have to be so pedantic, Gabriel.”  
“Huh?”  
“If it wasn’t for what happened, you, me, Catarina, everyone else...we all woulda been bums, up there.”  
Gabriel looked shocked at the fallen angel.  
“See? You do care. Second-class, second class,” Urushihara laughed.  
“...Listen,” Gabriel said, having enough of the fallen angel’s antics. “Let’s get back on topic.”  
“Which is?”  
“If you know about the Devil Overlord’s lost treasure, I want you to tell me.”  
“Treasure? ‘Zit worth anything? It better not involve inheritance tax.”  
“That isn’t what I asked you. It’s not that kind of thing anyway!”  
“So what is it?”  
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.”  
“Ugh..this is such a pain in the ass.” Ursuhihara crawled over to a drawer, took a piece of paper out and wrote his answers on it. “Here you go,” he said, handing the paper to Gabriel.  
“Hmmm?”  
“The demon realm’s treasure, as much as I can remember.”  
Gabriel studied the paper and blurted out, “You call this handwriting?” since it was all written in capital letters. “NOTHUNG? The sword of Gram, hmm? No, that’s not it. What’s this? What’s ADERAMEKINPEAR mean? It this all one word?”  
“The spear that was with Adramalech’s tribe back in the Age of Myths.”  
“The magical spear Adramelechius! Can you at least learn how to write properly for me?!”  
“Screw that. Too much to remember.”  
“Ugh...” Gabriel rubbed his head exhausted. “Feh...? FALSGOLD...? Oh. Alchemy. The story of how they created brass in an attemt to make false gold? ESTRLJEM, LEMBRENBE...The heck?” Gabriel said, trying to desipher Urushihara’s handwriting.  
“Lhemberel Levherbé. A magical beast the Demon Overlord kept,” Urushihara explained. “Rumour says it’s still alive...somewhere in the demon realm. Wearing a collar with an astral gem crafted by the overlord himself.” He smiled at Gabriel and said, “Hey, maybe it’s one of your Yesod fragments, huh?”  
“...You really want me angry, don’t you?” Gabriel said irritated.  
“What? I’m trying to be pretty serious here! That’s all I can think of, I swear!” Urushihara replied defensively. “He was the Demon Overlord, and he was still cheap enough to trick people with fool’s gold! That’s how people named ‘Satan’ have always been! So...poor, for some reason!”  
Gabriel took one last look at the piece of paper, scrunched it up and threw it in the bin. “I don’t have any way of making you talk. So whatever. I’m outie.”  
“I told you, that’s the recycling bin...” Urushihara said irritated.  
Gabriel added before leaving, “But...don’t forget...I’m practically doing you a favour right now.”  
“Huh? Favour? How?”  
“The Observer is coming.”  
Urushihara’s face froze.  
“And depending on what he decided, it might not be ‘doves’ like me playing house calls any longer.”  
“The Observer?!” Urushihara asked surprised. Even though it had been expected, the Observer had still indirectly caused Cathy pain, which he wouldn’t mind returning.  
“Why’re you acting all shocked? Sariel, the Evil Eye of the Fallen, had teamed up with him and now he’s gone. You had to know that he was gonna show up sometime, mm-kay?”  
“How could I know what all you losers are doing up there?” Urushihara asked exasperated. “Why’re spending all this effort on us now? And don’t give me that ‘dove’ crap, you’re like a shoebill or something.”  
“Yeah, thanks for the compliment. What’s a shoebill, anyway?” As he spoke, Gabriel fished another piece of paper, after he had carefully put away Cathy’s letter much to Urushihara’s irritation, out of his robe. “Anyway,” he said, throwing over a business card with his phone number, “if you remember anything else, call me on this number.”  
“...Like I ever would,” he said in annoyed. “By the way though...if you’re trying to find Satan’s old crap, then what happened to your search for the Yesod fragments? ’Cause Emilia just got a new one a bit ago.” The new Yesod fragment had come from the sword that Camio had brought along not that long ago.  
“Those? Yeah, that’s kinda on the back burner. I mean, the Observer is coming, know what I mean? I was taken off the front lines...after my assorted screw-ups, mm-kay. If that fragment is with Emilia, then that’s fine by me for now.” He opened the door. “Thanks again for the info! If you see Emilia, tell her I’m not gonna lay a finger on ’em for now. Tell her to keep Alas Ramus safe, okay?”


	39. Frenemies

After realising that these people knew hardly anything about TV’s and its terminology, Rika decided that the best course of action would be to go get something to eat first, where she could explain everything easily. They decided to go to a noodle shop called Sanuki Udon Manmaru, where you could get a bowl of plain noodles for 100 yen and one with toppings up to 300 yen.  
They all got a bowl. Suzuno – the most excited of all – decided to start with a plain bowl and possibly if she liked it, go for more. The moment she took one bite, she had entered cloud nine. Straight after she finished, she rushed towards the counter to get another bowl.  
“So, getting back to the TV for a moment…,” Rika said energized. “Did y’all have an idea of what kind you wanted to buy?”  
“If I can watch TV with it, I’m good to go,” was Maou’s only answer.  
“Uh…”  
“You said earlier that you owned a Seishiba twenty-six something or-other,” Ashiya started with a kind smile. “Is twenty-six the model number or something?”  
“N-no, no, it’s the TV size…”  
“Yeah. Pretty sure it’s like Hanzou’s computer,” Cathy said between slurps.  
“If twenty-six is normal, then I guess we’re maxing out at twenty-nine, maybe,” Maou said thoughtfully.  
“They’re not like bicycle tire, Maou. Boy, do we got a lot to cover...,” Rika said, just realising what she’d gotten herself into. “What’s your budget?”  
“Forty-one thousand two hundred thirty-nine yen.”  
“Why so exact?” Rika asked suspiciously.  
“We kinda have to be.”  
“So, do you think ... we’ll be able to purchase a television with that forty-one thousand two hundred thirty nine yen?” Ashiya asked.  
“If you don’t mind a smaller twenty-inch model, you could probably squeak under forty, huh?”  
“Hell yeah!” Maou said excitedly.  
Cathy chuckled. “You’re really excited ’bout all this, Maou. Kinda fun to see.”  
“Um...thanks,” Maou said unsurely, not even sure whether it was meant as a compliment or not.  
Just then Suzuno returned with a big bowl of noodles and toppings on top.  
After Rika informed them more about what kind of TV’s they could buy, Suzuno commented lovingly on the noodles, “Given how quickly things evolve in Japan...I am glad to see that a connection is still being made to the past...”  
This comment made Rika ask Suzuno, “Hey, um, Suzuno, I’ve been wondering...did you maybe grow up overseas like Emi or something?”  
This question caught Suzuno off guard and she started blushing.  
_So Emilia told her that she’s from overseas. Can see why that would be a good lie._  
“I dunno, you just talk about how it is ‘in Japan’ a lot.  
“...Ah. Yes. Um, yes. I come from a religious family, and we were overseas...” Suzuno said nervously.  
“You’re lettin’ the udon go to your head,” Maou whispered.  
“Oh, one of those missionary things? They’re really out there?” Rika asked while Suzuno elbowed Maou.  
“On TV, I saw this priest in Japan...who went deep into Africa to spread Christianity. Kinda made me think about what a big world it is, y’know?”  
“There are people like that here as well...” Suzuno asked pleased. “I had thought the Japanese held little interest in religion.”  
“Oh, no way! I mean, you wouldn’t see all those horoscope and fortune-telling apps if we didn’t. Maybe we don’t pray before we start eating...and we sure don’t attend mass on Sunday...but there’s little Buddhist shrines inside I.T. firms and stuff. That or they’ll hire a priest to drive evil spirits away before building a factory.”  
Rika’s last words almost made Cathy choke on her drink because of the ridiculousness of it all.  
“I’d say we have just as much respect and gratitude for the bigger things in life as anyone,” she said with a smile.  
“Gratitude?”  
“Yeah. Though I guess if I was a missionary like your family...I’d have to be a lot less casual toward it all, I bet. If your god told you to kill anyone who didn’t listen to him...that’s no god at all, I’d say.”  
This sent a shockwave through Suzuno and made Cathy grin at Rika with interest. “That...” Suzuno started.  
“Hmmm?” Maou said, noticing one of the employees having difficulties communicating with a customer. He got up. “Oof, I’ll be right back,” he said and went to sort it all out.  
As Maou sorted it out, Cathy continued starting at the stranger – a guy in old fashioned clothes with a black afro and purple streak. “Hey, Rika Suzuki,” she eventually said.  
“Um, yes,” Rika said, not expecting to be addressed by the woman who only seemed to pass sarcastic comments here and there and laugh at stuff, but still seemed to be kind in other ways.  
“Have you ever had a moment where you think you recognise someone, but can’t put your finger on who they are or when you saw them?”  
“Not really. But it does happen. Usually it’s ’cause that person appeared on TV or you saw them in the past.”  
She scoffed in response. “Doubt he’d appear on TV.”  
“Cathy, treat her with more respect!” Ashiya put in. “Miss Suzuki is going out of her way to help us find a new TV and you’ve been nothing but rude.”  
“Yeah, well, probably ’cause you’re here, Ashiya,” she said, with a challenging look.  
As the pair continued staring at it other like they were going to enter a brawl any second now, Rika asked Suzuno, “What’s up with those two? From the moment I saw them together, it looked like they’re prepared to rip each other’s throats out over the smallest thing.”  
“I do not know,” Suzuno admitted, looking slightly out of it. “But it is true. Even at home they tend to get on ones nerves. Cathy seems to enjoy doing so and still seems to harbour a sort of hostility towards Shirou.”  
“Hostility, huh?” Rika repeated thoughtfully.  
After everyone had finished their meals, they went outside and the employee who Maou had helped earlier came out and offered him a free coupon which he politely declined and gave some advice instead.  
“Helping another damsel in distress?” Suzuno asked once the employee had left.  
“It’s not like that, okay? It would’ve been weird if that debacle had kept going,” Maou retorted.  
“Then at least accept the free meal tickets, why don’t cha?” Rika put in. “I’m kinda surprised you turned that down.”  
“Yeah...I probably didn’t need to do that.”  
“Should I stop you from doing that next time? Maybe use it for myself?” Cathy asked her king.  
“No.” He turned back to Rika and said, “But you know...when I go someplace like that, I always end up feeling bad for the staff.”  
“Huh?”  
“That girl just now reminded me of Chi when she first started. She kinda had a foreign language issue once when I was there too. I really don’t want new hires to get in the habit of having their boss give out free food vouchers to smooth things over. Then you don’t really feel like you did anything wrong. You didn’t learn anything. You just learn that there’s this escape valve you can tap any time you want. So I didn’t think it’d be good to take it.”  
“Indeed. I considered it a terrible waste, but if those are your wishes...,” Ashiya said dejectedly.  
“Can’t believe I’m actually agreeing with you on this, Ashiya,” Cathy begrudgingly admitted.  
“All that, and you don’t even know any TV brand names. So weird...”  
“Well, I mean, sympathy by itself doesn’t help much, does it? It might come back to help me sometime. And you mentioned ‘love thy neighbour’ just now too. As a fellow fast-food lifer, if both of our joints can grow and attract more customers...,” he said with a winning grin, “...maybe this episode’ll help that girl. She could be my next rival.”  
“You are making little sense. Love thy neighbour so she can be your enemy someday.”  
“Well, let’s call it ‘frenemies’, okay?”  
“Ah. Yes. Rika,” Suzuno suddenly called. “I wanted to ask you...if it was not a god, what would it be?”  
“Huh? If who’s not a god?”  
“If a god who ordered you to kill anyone who defied him...isn’t any kind of god, what is he, then?”  
“Well it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? It’s people. Who else would try to pin their god’s name...on whatever evil their doing?”  
“Oh, Rika Suzuki, I am seriously startin’ to like you,” Cathy said with a grin.  
“Um...thanks.”  
Ashiya let out a loud sigh. “I understand that you want to know what those devises look like and need a new phone, but you really should leave her alone.”  
She scoffed. “Leave her alone? I just complimented her and meant it. She’s a fun person to hang out with.”  
“Do you mean akin to your other friends?”  
“Really? You’re bringing them into this? That’s lame, Ashiya, even for you. And if you must know, I like her because she’s different than them. More ... interesting. But yeah, whatevs, doubt you even know how to be that.”  
“Why, you...” Ashiya shouted.  
Suddenly Rika snapped her fingers. “Oh, I know what you two look like now. Did the two of you used to date?”  
A look of pure horror and disgust washed over both demons’ face. Cathy even put her hand over her mouth, stopping any kind of food from coming up. She looked from Ashiya to Rika and said eventually after swallowing loudly. “No. I would never...ugh...just thinking about being with him makes my insides churn. I swear, Rika Suzuki, I have never had nor will I ever have any interest in him. I’m sure he can also vouch for that.”  
Ashiya, just recover from the horrible implication, nodded his head firmly.  
“Ok. What are you then?” she said, relieved at the revelation.  
“Ugh...frenemies guess. Doubt I’d ever get along with him the way I do with others for...personal reasons,” she said, eyeing him with distaste, “but I won’t exactly hold a knife to his neck either.” _Anymore._  
Rika staggered at the implication. “But you would’ve?”  
The look in Cathy’s eyes started darkening and before it could scare Rika half to death, Maou suggested they go to the shops.

During the browsing, the group split up into two groups: Ashiya and Rika who went to look for a phone and Maou, Cathy – who had bought her new phone within seconds – and Suzuno, who decided to wait outside the store at a bench. While they were waiting, Suzuno suggested that the demons cut ties with Rika to avoid any danger to her, which Maou countered with some well stated arguments, including the fact that Chiho’s memories hadn’t been erased yet.  
But while that childish squabble was going on, Rika realised something major while looking at phones: she had fallen in love with Ashiya. Her question towards Cathy and Ashiya earlier had just been a precaution to make sure she wouldn’t have a crazy ex behind her, though he had mentioned her having a boyfriend. This made the curious part of her wonder who this man was that had stolen this slightly scary woman’s heart.  
Suddenly a loud scream rang from the floor above. Maou rallied Ashiya to come with him and Cathy, while Suzuno was put in charge of watching over Rika.  
As it turned out all of the floor-model screens of the TV’s had flashed white at the same time and then shattered. After hearing this, the boss of the store said it would be best to get everyone out and call the police and fire department.  
This lead Suzuno to suggest Ashiya escort Rika back home safely, to which he agreed to without hesitation. This also greatly flustered Rika, considering her feelings for the demon.  
After the pair had left, Suzuno said to Maou, “Let me confirm one thing first. That was demonic force, yes? Barbariccian in nature?”  
“Dunno. But...I know this ain’t gonna matter to you...this ain’t us.”  
The fog-like air on the second floor was unmistakably demonic in nature. Nothing of Maou, Ashiya or Cathy’s doing, of course. And Maou had no idea why the mere presence of demonic force would be enough to destroy several dozen TVs. The only thing any of them were certain of was that this was no natural occurrence.  
“I _know_ that,” Suzuno said while pouting.  
First Ashiya was instructed to escort Rika back home. As the pair were leaving, Cathy smiled at them.  
“Looks like someone actually fancies him here.”  
Maou looked at her confused. “You’re alright with that?”  
She shrugged. “He’s a decent guy. Not my type, really far from it as you’ve seen, but I understand the appeal.”  
He nodded, slightly confused. _It’s strange hearing her say something nice about him like that._  
When Maou, Suzuno and Cathy returned to the Devil’s Castle they noticed that Emi was also there and she had terrible news: Chiho had been poisoned by a concentrated dose of demonic magic and had been sent to the hospital where she remained unconscious.


	40. Coma

The group rushed to see over to see Chiho. Riho, Chiho’s mum, told them that there was nothing unusual about her physicals. She was just unconscious. Strangely enough she also had Yesod fragment in the form of a ring on her hand. Emi concluded that Chiho's condition might be due to magic poisoning. After some discussion, Suzuno concluded that Chiho's life was not in danger.  
After some discussing, Maou asked, “But demonic force from Chi? Why?”  
“Yep...the external cause of Chiho Sasaki’s body generates that force,” Urushihara spoke up while watching the TV.  
“...Urushihara?”  
“Demonic force getting created in the bodies of humans...I guess it’s pretty likely, and we just didn’t know about it. But someone, or something, acted upon Chiho Sasaki. Yusa...she sees me as nothing more than a PC nerd and a waste of space. How do you think I managed to make her come to Devil’s Castle?”  
“Because he said that Gabriel paid a visit to Villa Rosa Sasazuka,” Emi said.  
“Gabriel did?!” Maou exclaimed.  
Cathy, who was half leaning on Urushihara’s chair, said, “Huh? Gabe visited?”  
“Yeah. Tell you more ’bout it later if this isn’t enough,” he said to her.  
“That huge, slimy freak better not have laid a finger on her...”  
Cathy squinted at Maou, but decided against saying anything.  
“Yeah, I wish the story was that simple. He came in on other business. He’s been put on desk duty after screwing up the Yesod fragment hunt. Now they’re looking for some relic from the Devil Overlord Satan or whoever.”  
“Desk duty? You think this is some kind of cop drama?” Emi asked.  
“A ‘relic from the Devil Overlord’?” Maou wondered aloud.  
“You know about that, Maou?” he asked, turning towards him.  
“Hope it’s worth money. I could use some of that...though the inheritance tax would probably be a deal breaker. ...Yeah, I think it rings a bell, but I don’t see why folks up in heaven would get in a lather searching for it.”  
“Whoa. Glad to see we’re both on the same level, Maou.”  
Cathy looked intrigued from Maou to Urushihara. “Wow. Never thought you two’d have the same line of thought.”  
Urushihara smiled slightly, then continued. “But there’s a good chance they’ll send another angel to take his place. And if they do, I know who it’ll be.”  
“Lazy shut-ins, girl chasers, her...,” for Cathy Ashiya thought that the mere thought of her was enough to state his point, “...are there any decent angels out there?”  
“Dude, don’t lump us in. I left ’cause I hated it remember. And so did Cat to a certain extent. And she’s much better than them.”  
“Do you think you’re much more welcome at my place?” Maou asked dryly.  
“Do I care?” Urushihara retorted. “But if we’re gonna believe Gabriel...they sent the ‘Observer’ down here to Japan.”  
“The ‘Observer’....?” Suzuno said. “The angel who oversees the behaviour of all the other angels?”  
Cathy on the other hand blinked, stood up and started pacing frantically. “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.” She dropped to the floor. “For god’s sake, why?”  
“Um, Cathy...what’s wrong?” Maou asked unsurely, hoping that no one was close enough to hear the spouting of his bodyguard.  
“Oh...you know, just crap memory is all.” She groaned. “I knew I recognised him from somewhere.”  
“Who? From where?”  
“That dude you helped in the udon store. He’s Raguel. He didn’t used to look like that, used to have purple hair like Lucifer. But guess he dyed it. Only thing that’s still the same is his stupid face.”  
“Well at least we know what he looks like now,” Maou concluded.  
Suzuno seemed startled by the fact. Urushihara looked at his frantic girlfriend and said tentatively, “Cat, it’s alright. We’ll figure it out.”  
She stood up and went to stand next to him again. “Yeah. You’re right.”  
Urushihara went on to explain what the Observer’s job actually was, “The angel Raguel watches the angels as necessary and lays judgment upon them. Mostly, that means getting booted from heaven...a task the ‘Evil Eye of the Fallen’ would normally carry out.” After his explanation, he looked regrettably at the fallen angel standing next to him. Though she didn’t seem to mind the conversation concerning the people who had caused her pain before they had met up again in the demon realm. _She’s still like this about it after all this time._  
“But why is Raguel in Japan?” Emi asked.  
“To lay judgment on someone, I’d guess.”  
“Judgment? What kind?”  
“The painful kind,” Cathy said dryly under her breath.  
Urushihara still heard it, but knew that Maou wouldn’t like it if he got off topic so he just placed his hand on her back reassuringly. “Well, about that I’ve kind of got some ideas so that’s what I’m waiting for right now.”  
“Huh? For what?”  
“Now for a roundup of the day’s top news,” the news broadcaster said. “The cause of the issue affection reception on HDTV compatible cell phones remains unknown. Phone services providers across the greater Kanto area are scrambling to find the cause and handle customer complaints.”  
“Oh...that wasn’t just Docodemo?”  
Cathy’s eyes widened in realisation, just before a bright flash came from the TV. All four demons’ bodies experienced something strange as they lost their balance to the ground. A result of this was that now their hair was standing up on their head.  
“Wh-what’s wrong with you guys?” Emi asked confused and totally unaffected.  
“Are you all right?!”  
“Huh?”  
“Wha-?!”  
“What is going on with you people?!” Emi asked making them spring back up.  
“...I wish I knew,” Maou said weakly, still recovering.  
“You two didn’t notice that? Must be that receptivity you guys have...,” Urushihara spoke up.  
“Huh...wh-what?” Emi held her hand to her head. “A-all right, all right, gimme a sec!” She concentrated her magic on the floor and Alas Ramus appeared with a determined look on her face. Then she made a beeline towards the TV and started hitting it with her small hands.  
“Tee-Bee!”  
“Wh-what’re you doing, Alas Ramus?”  
“It was all, whoosh!” Alas Ramus, now in Emi’s arms, explained pointing at the TV.  
“It’s the sonar.”  
“Like before you attacked King Satan but more dangerous,” Cathy said in a small voice.  
“Yeah. Someone’s breaking into the broadcast and firing sonar bolts. He can trace the TV’s that picked up the sonar so that’s a lot easier than casting a net nationwide.”  
“Sonar? That jolt right now was a sonar?!” Maou said shocked.  
“Are you saying that was Raguel just now, Urushihara?”  
“Yeah, there’s a pretty good chance of that,” he said, turning to Ashiya to answer him. “Chiho Sasaki musta gotten taken up by it.”  
“W-wait!” Suzuno said desperately. “How could they fire off bolts of sonar through TV waves?! And even if they could do that tens of millions of people are watching TV in Japan right now! Surely Chiho would not be the only one affected!”  
“Chi’s house has already been the site of at least one sonar strike,” Maou said in realisation.  
“Oh...you mean Al’s...Albert’s sonar?” Emi said.  
“Yeah, it must have sparked some kinda explosive reaction.”  
“But TV-based sonar still wouldn’t be that accurate,” Urushihara said. “Why were Emeralda Etuva and Albert Ende able to fire sonar bolts over to Japan, on Earth, anyway?”  
“...Huh?”  
“Like, Olba, I get. He’s the guy who sent Emilia through the Gate after Maou in the first place. But not those two. They shouldn’t be able to use Gate magic at all. How’d they manage to take a sonar bolt and transmit it right over to Japan?”  
“Um... There is one thing, the angel’s feather pen that anyone, not just demons, can use to summon Gates, right? The two of them had one of those...provided by Lailah, my mother. They probably used that to send the sonar and idea links,” Emi said thoughtfully. Then she said in realisation, “...Oh.”  
“Yeah, dudes, that’s it. You know what Raguel’s looking for now? Lailah.”  
Emi’s eyes widened and then darkened.  
“I don’t know why, but they’re tracking Lailah’s trail and they’re trying to lay some kind of judgment at her feet.”  
Emi grabbed Urushihara by the shirt and pulled him towards her. “Raguel’s judgement... What is it, exactly?!”  
“Loosen your hand or lose it,” Cathy said as she held a dagger against the hero’s wrist. Her voice had turned serious as had the look in her eyes. This wasn’t just a play threat like before; this was an actual real one.  
Emi made the right decision and let go quickly as she backed away after letting go of the fallen angel. But she still seemed like blowing up.  
“Emilia, we are in a hospital,” Suzuno said.  
“You want me to calm down?!” she shouted, the fear of earlier turning into anger. “I’ve never met her…I didn’t even know she existed until recently… But unless I meet her … and talk to her…unless she’s safe… She…she…she’s my mother, all right!?”  
Though Cathy was still glaring at Emi, she was confused by the statement. _Why would she want to meet her and know she’s safe? She was abandoned by her._  
“Um, is something the matter?” a nurse who had appeared asked.  
“S-sorry. It’s nothing,” Maou said uneasily.  
She turned around, while still facing them. “Well, try to keep it quiet, okay?”  
Before he said anything more, Urushihara gave Cathy a small smile in thanks. “They’re probably gonna kick her out of heaven, I’d assume. Raguel and Sariel work as a team, after all. Or worked.”  
“So you’re saying Sariel’s in on this too?!”  
“Nah, dude. Not at this point. I’m starting to get the impression he doesn’t give two craps about heaven anymore.”  
“Good choice if you ask me,” Cathy said, really starting to dislike most of heaven’s folk more and more.  
“I don’t know what he really wants to do either. Banishing someone from heaven doesn’t happen all that often, but I’ve never heard of someone crossing worlds just to lay judgment on an archangel.”  
“Seems that your mother’s really special in a different kinda way, Emilia,” Cathy said coldly, her voice still carrying a dangerous tone.  
Maou sighed as he saw what his bodyguard’s words did to the hero. “So, we’re gonna have to beat up Raguel and make him give us the whole story, huh?”  
“If I may ask, why do we need to, as you say, ‘beat up’ Raguel?”  
“Look, I don’t care about how angels deal with humans.” He said with a smile, “But he just took out one of the candidates for a demon general spot in my army. Do I need any more reason?”  
“Not at all, my liege. I would be glad to lend a helping hand to a future comrade.”  
Maou looked at the others in the room. “Cathy...Urushihara...Emi...Suzuno...”  
“Yes, my lord?”  
“Mm?”  
“What!”  
“Yes.”  
“I need to smoke this Raguel guy out and make him pay for putting Chi in such a bad state. Help me with that.”  
“Of course. I’m always up for a fight and against someone who hurt a friend even more.”  
“Well…sure, dude. I’m free anyway. I guess I owe her for least a coupla things.”  
“I wish you’d save that talk about demon generals until after I kill you…but this is one of my best friends we’re talking about.  
“I will gladly teach an angel a less for my friends. For this, and only this, I will help you.”  
“Papa,” Alas Ramus said enthusiastically.  
“…Hmm?”  
“Alas Ramus love Chi-Sis too,” she said determined.  
Maou smiled in return and picked the toddler up. “Let’s do it,” he said as he and the group walked towards the exit.


	41. Fight at the tower

So the group split up into three groups: Maou, Ashiya and Cathy towards the Tokyo Tower, Emi went to the Tokyo Skytree and Urushihara and Suzuno stayed behind in Yoyogi so they could go to either place if needed.  
On the way to the Tower, Cathy undid her hair and started combing it and made a different kind of braid.  
“Cathy, I don’t think this is the time or place for something like this.”  
She gave him a sideways glance as she continued braiding her hair. “It’s how I always do it when I intend on fighting, my lord. That’s why it was like that in the demon realm. Pretty much so it doesn’t get in the way.”  
“Are you sure about that?” Maou asked dubiously.  
“Yeah. Otherwise it bangs annoyingly against my back or gets in the way of my wings.”  
Maou sighed. “You can just as well cut it.”  
She frowned. “Don’t be stupid, my lord.”  
They made it to the Tokyo Tower and first couldn’t find the angel they were looking for, so Maou decided to call Suzuno. She handed over the phone to Urushihara who after a small conversation said that he had a plan and hung up.  
After that the male demons discussed the possibility of the fallen angel hiring a private detective.  
Cathy sighed. “Just how little faith do you have in him?”  
“You really want me to answer that truthfully?” Maou asked in return.  
“Fine. But you know, if Lucifer says he has a plan, he’s got a plan. He’s smarter than he acts most of the time.”  
Maou looked questioningly at Cathy, but nodded nonetheless.  
Suddnely a sonar blast hit them.  
“For god’s sake,” Cathy said, putting her hand against her hair. “Not again.” She looked around annoyed. Then she, Ashiya and Maou noticed something in the sky: light from holy energy moving in the sky.  
“Did Gabriel try pulling something stupid again.”  
Cathy shot around to the voice and said, “Raguel, you bastard.”  
The afroed man put his hands up in defence while being extremely surprised at seeing her there. “Hey. You left heaven. I was just doing my duty. And what are you doing here?”  
She crossed her arms and looked at him amused. “Just passin’ by.”  
Then Maou and Ashiya turned to look seriously at him.  
“Hmm? Oh, what a coincidence! The man from the udon shop.”  
Cathy rolled her eyes. She understood the fact that this angel wouldn’t know what the Devil King or his loyal demon general would look like in human form. But surley he knew that she had allied herself with the demons. Otherwise there would be no reason to be here.  
“You’re Raguel?!” Maou shouted.  
“My lord, I told you,” she said, trying to shush him.  
Raguel looked from one to the other. He understood why this fallen angel would know his name, but before earlier today he had never met the man before. Though she had referred to him as ‘my lord’, meaning that he most likely was who they were against.  
Then suddenly the top of the tower glowed. Then a black cloud surrounded the three demons.  
“What is happening…!?”  
_It’s teeming with demonic force…!_  
Cathy just smiled, looking forward to what was surely to come.  
Now all three demons were back in their original forms. The first thing Maou did was create an anti-human barrier with a snap of his fingers. “If you were on the ground floor, you could’ve told us, man! We had to waste so much money going up there!”  
In response to that statement, Cathy sighed with a smile.  
“What are you talking about, man?!” Raguel asked, totally out of he loop. “Eesh, hey, Gabe, did you know these guys were in Japan?”  
Suddenly Gabriel appeared out of seemingly nothing. “I didn’t think they’d get involved, mm-kay,” he said with his carefree smile. “Sorry.”  
“Great excuse there, Gabe,” Cathy said with an amused smile.  
“This is Devil King Satan!” Raguel shouted while pointing at Maou. “I thought there wasn’t any demon force in this world! This isn’t what you told me earlier, Gabe.”  
“Well, sorry, but I wasn’t lying. It’s all that thing’s fault,” he said, pointing towards the black circle on the top of the tower. “If you ask me, Lailah must’ve stumbled on to something we don’t know about.”  
“Dahh,” Raguel said annoyed. “Look, she’s kicked out of heaven anyway. How ’bout we wipe out anyone who knows anything about this, bada-bing, bada-boom? Like we care about what happens to this nation anyway-”  
“Not gonna happen,” Maou said with darkened eyes.  
Cathy raised her eyebrows in a threatening manner which only the people who knew about her noticed.  
Gabriel looked slightly panicked at Cathy, hoping that things wouldn’t get too messy.  
“And you! Just sit there and slurp up your udon, like a good little boy. Stop butting into heaven’s affairs.”  
“…Your inane squabbling with one another….it hurt one of our friend!”  
Maou used his demonic magic and punched Raguel in the face. “We invaded the human world because we wanted to rule over it. We use violence to cow the populace. But you won’t find anyone in the demon realm who steps on people’s faces and calls it justice.”  
Ashiya silently listened to his king while his colleague listened with an admirable smile.  
“And if you aren’t prepared to live with the fallout, stop bitching about it to other people! In this world, you have to live with everything you’ve ever done! That’s how humans do it!”  
Raguel, still bruised and on the floor, said, “Um, so are they gonna fight us, or what?”  
“Kinda lookin’ like it, yeah.”  
“You take ’em, Gabe.” Raguel got up.  
Gabriel let out a sigh. “Oh, I knew this would happen…”  
“Uh, yeah…combat wasn’t really in my job description. I got my hands full tracking down Lailah.” Raguel opened his white wings behind him and started walking in the opposite direction. “Gotta break out this barrier first…”  
“Hold it,” Maou said in a commanding voice. “You’re going nowhere.”  
Gabriel stepped in between Maou and Raguel. “’Fraid I can’t agree to that! We got a job to do.” He waved his hand towards Raguel. “Get moving, Raguel. I can handle them by myself.”  
While her friend was talking, Cathy made eye contact with Maou who nodded in approval.  
“I hope so,” Raguel said as he flew into the sky. Not a second later Maou tried to hit him, but got quickly stopped by Gabriel’s hand on his.  
_Knew it. That’s why it’s always best to wait._  
The two demons went up against the archangel who seemed to be having problems.  
She smiled slighly and then dissapeared into the sky. Seconds later she was on Raguel’s tail. She looked down and saw Gabriel torn between stopping her and taking down the demons in front of him first. “Sorry, Gabe, she’s my friend as well. And try not to kill them, okay.”  
He smiled slightly at her. “If you promise the same.”  
She looked towards Raguel. “Sure. I’ll just stop him.”  
So the battle continued as Raguel tried to make it to the top of the tower, sensing the oncoming menace. He had had the luck of never facing her in combat. But he knew how powerful she was with how highly Gabriel spoke of her. Why out of all the people to be present here did it have to be two friends on differing sides? He sighed and sped up. He continued flying, but strangely enough she didn’t catch up with him. She just kept a respectable distance. He could feel a cold sweat emerging. _She’s truly a demoness_ , he thought as he realised what she was doing.  
In the end Cathy was just enjoying the thrill of the hunt. She knew she could teleport over and take down Raguel no problem. It would be the best solution because then she would be able to help out Maou and Ashiya in their fight against Gabriel. But the thing was, if she did that, she would have to work together with them to stop her best friend. She loved fighting him, always had and always would. However, only when it came down to one on one battles. She was being selfish here, she knew it but at the moment her focus was on the angel in front of her trying to get away. She’d stop him once he reached the top.  
She looked down for a second and noticed Gabriel had gotten out his sword Durandall. She blinked for a second. The top part of the sword was gone. He explained that Emi had cut it off during their battle. _Loser_ , she thought with a smile.  
They continued fighting until they managed to capture Gabriel and Ashiya gave him a gut wrenching punch. Unfortunately for them it seemed like it had been an after image and the real took the two of them down.  
“The two of you together can juuuuuust about take on one of my fakes. You and Emilia…you’re so straightforward in battle, aren’t cha? That’s why it would’ve been good to have Catarina stay by your side, she knows how to fight and sneak up on people. So just knock it off, mm-kay? Nobody’s gonna critisise you for it. I’m not gonna do anything bad to you.”  
Ashiya put his hand to his neck and slowly got up along with Maou.  
“…You think we’d actually say yes to that, you bastard…? You do something to Emi?”  
“Hmm?”  
“That ‘girl’ you talked about. How come you know something happened to Chi?”  
“Okay, yeah, I heard it from Emilia. We met over at Skytree a sec ago. But all I know is that Raguel’s sonar knocked her out, mm-kay? She didn’t tell me about anything else. Boy, I had all kind of juicy info for her too… What I did give her kinda made her lose the will to fight, so…”  
“What?”  
“You really oughta thank me, huh? There’s one enemy of yours outta the picture at least.”  
“What did you do to her…?”  
“Nothing. Nothing that much. I just told Emilia her dad’s alive somewhere, that’s all,” he said with the same carefree smile as always.  
Maou looked at him shocked. He thought back to the time that Emi had broken down in front of him and asked him why he had killed her father.  
“My liege…?”  
“Gabriel. Are you really that bad at picking up on social cues?”  
“Yeah, I seem to remember someone calling it a ‘B-movie act’ not long ago, mm-kay?”  
“Is that fun for you? Taking people’s emotional supports away from them?”  
“Oh, it is! But not as fun as watching you worrying about your sworn enemy, Emilia!”  
“I can’t believe Cathy’s actually friends with you.”  
He chuckled. “Catarina’s much older than you, mm-kay, and has also had her fair share of trampling on people to get what she wants. Maybe more by manipulation, but we all know she’s good at doing anything really.”  
In response Maou just stared at him, wondering what his bodyguard had done in her past.  
“But if I could get a word in real quick…I think Emilia oughta knock off that boring ‘slay the Devil King’ mumbo jumbo. That crutch is still in the way of things, y’know?”  
“You,” Maou said, prepared to take on the archangel yet again.  
Suddenly out of nowhere Raguel fell to the ground screaming Gabriel’s name. Cathy on the other hand seemed like one of her forehead veins was about to pop. She smiled irritated. “He was mine.”  
The cause for all this was Chiho flying in the air, wearing her hospital pyjamas, with a glowing bow and arrow in her hand. Next to her was Emi.  
“Sorry, Cathy. I was told to take him down like that.”  
Cathy let her anger simmer for the time being. “Fine. What’s up?”  
Maou also noticed the girls in the sky and said frantically, “Ch-Chi, you’re awake?! Are you all right?! Why’re you flying…? What’s that bow…?”  
Emi answered in Chiho’s stead and shouted, “Devil King! We’ll talk later! We need to stop those two angels first!”  
“Pretty quick recovery,” Gabriel said with an untroubled smile. “All better now?”  
They ignored the archangel and Emi shouted, “I’m saving the thinking for later, all right?!”  
“Ooh, that’s no good. Pretty much Lucifer’s philosophy, isn’t it?” Gabriel said while looking with a teasing smile at Cathy.  
She just shook her head in exasperation. “You really shouldn’t underestimate his intelligence or thinking ability.”  
He blinked at the response, then smiled slightly in pain. _She thinks so highly of him in so many ways._  
“I don’t care right now! Ashiya, Cathy! Let’s stop Raguel!”  
All three demons converged on the angel and Cathy got him by the shoulder.  
“Once the Gate’s open, I’ll toss him hallway across the universe!”  
Raguel started panicking, made worse by the unrelenting grip on his shoulder. “What is it with you pricks?! Is Lailah that important to you?! Just go away and take over the world or something! The entire future of heaven depends on whether we catch Lailah or not! So butt out!”  
“Y’know, I don’t remember her being all that much of a big-shot angel,” Maou said with a grin. “Just a single mom with kind of a fancy job title. What’s got you so riled up over her?”  
Cathy grinned. “I have a suspicion.”  
“None of your business! These are heavenly affairs! No outsiders allowed.”  
“Seriously. Can I crush him? He’s really starting to get on my nerves,” Cathy asked Maou, tightening her grip.  
Before Maou could answer, another celestial arrow landed in front of Raguel’s feet.  
“Not if I can help it!” Chiho said confidently. “That was a warning. Your behavior is disrupting the balance of power in this world. Stop using your sonar and leave it alone.”  
Cathy’s hand subconsciously pushed down the angel as she realised that now Chiho was also speaking words that she shouldn’t know anything about.  
Raguel found the courage within him to stand against this mysterious teenage girl and raised his hand. “Silence. I have a job.”  
But before he knew it there was a sword against his neck. “Sorry, can’t let you do that. Like I said, she’s a friend. Meaning, not harming.”  
Raguel eyed Gabriel pleading for help. Though for some strange reason he seemed almost transfixed by her abilities. It was probably because it had been so long ago that he had seen her in action like this.  
Luckily Cathy didn’t get the chance to strike as Raguel was shot. He fell to his knees, immensely weakened. “…Whoa…?! Wh-wha…wha…?”  
“I just took your wing power away. The next time it strikes you, you may never recover as an angel.”  
_What is this power? Not like Sariel’s, but in a way much more powerful. Why isn’t she here then?_  
“So go home before that happens…you are not my enemy.”  
“Ai-yai-yai. That ain’t good,” Gabriel said in discomfort. “Hey, Catarina, can you let go of him now?”  
She frowned at him. “Really?”  
“We’re going. Don’t worry.”  
She sighed. “Sure. Next time, please try not to get my friends involved, Gabriel. It’s stupid having to face you like this.”  
He nodded and smiled at her as he took Raguel from Cathy.  
Raguel struggled against the handing over, so Gabriel had no choice but to put him to sleep.  
“What’re you doing?” Emi asked.  
Gabriel put Raguel over his shoulder.  
“Now that Emilia’s in the picture, I’m startin’ to not like my chances. That other girl’s some kinda phenom too, apparently… and you know Raguel would never listen to reason. I don’t wanna fight a battle if I don’t know I’ll win. But…” he smiled wistfully, “…watching you and everyone on Earth…I’m startin’ to want to see my own world change.” He looked towards Chiho with a smile. “Bet you want it too, huh?”  
Chiho just stared at him with her determined eyes.  
“Anyway.” He smiled cheerfully as he collected his clestial force. “Have fun chewing over all the little hint I’ve been dropping. Adios!”  
“Agh! Hey! Wait!” Emi shouted at the disappearing archangel.  
The Hero and Devil King stared at the spot that had been occupied by two angels moments earlier.  
_So they could’ve left the barrier any time they wanted…?_ “Treating me like a fool…”  
“Yeah. Sorry. He really is powerful and likes to play around,” Cathy said with a broad grin. Though a part of her was now seriously mulling over what Gabriel had said before he left them.  
“What was Gabriel trying to do…?”  
“If he wanted to, he could’ve helped Raguel finish his mission long before we were involved.”  
“I think he’s just keeping an eye on us,” Cathy said. “Kinda like, he likes heaven and being an angel, but doesn’t see the need in going out of his way to really help them. And like he said, maybe change heaven.”  
“That could be true.”  
Ashiya looked to the side. “...There is...something else on my mind.”  
Now all eyes were on Chiho who smiled shyly. “Yeah, I’ll bet...”  
“I-I’m sorry! I don’t think this’ll last much longer...” She landed by the group. “We had to throw the world’s energy balance off a lot to build up demonic force for you three. It sounds like I have to rebalance it soon...”  
“Wh-what’s going on?” Maou asked confused.  
“Um, she said she doesn’t know, and that’s the bad part about it!” Then Chiho started talking to someone through her ear bud. “...um, okay! I understand! I’ll be right there!”  
“Who said? Chiho, is there someone talking to you...?” Emi said desperately. “...My mother?! Is it my mother?!”  
“U-um...Yusa... I’m sorry, but she says we’re really running short on time,” Chiho started flying again.  
“Maou, Ashiya, Cathy. Get back down to the roof. It’s too dangerous for you!”  
“Dangerous? What is?!” Maou asked forcefully.  
“Chiho! What’re you doing?! Please, could you lend me your phone for a-”  
Chiho cut off the question. “Nngh, I’m sorry...”  
“Chiho!” Emi called after Chiho who was flying towards the top of the tower.  
“I’m sooorrrryyyyy!!” Chiho shouted while blushing before she shot a celestial arrow.  
Magic washed over the group and their demonic appearances disappeared.  
Chiho scrunched up her face and shouted, “Rain, rain, go awaaaaay!!” As a result the magic dispersed over the area.  
Afterwards Chiho started falling to the ground. Luckily Maou was there to catch her in time. “Chi!” he said worriedly.  
“Chiho!”  
“Miss Sasaki.”  
“Oh, Chiho Sasaki,” Cathy said, wanting to have a word with the one responsible for her friends condition.  
“Chi, are you...” Maou said worriedly. “....Oh, she’s asleep.”


	42. Possession

The next day the group visited Chiho’s room.  
“Yo, Chi,” Maou said with a smile.  
“Chiho!”  
“Ah, good, Miss Sasaki.”  
“I was quite concerned, Chiho.”  
“Couldn’t have said it better myself, Bell,” Cathy agreed.  
“Oh! Hello, guys.” She smiled brightly in greeting.  
“Sorry we’re all crowding in at once,” Maou said as he gave her some flowers.  
“Not at all...”  
“Your mom said you were gonna be discharged tomorrow. I’m glad you’re better. We got ya some flowers.”  
“Wow… Thank you,” she said shyly.  
“So, um…”  
“…Yes?”  
“Do you remember last night at all?”  
“Yesterday…” She thought back to when she had been asleep in the hospital.  
A ring that she had received with a Yesod fragment had glowed. This had caused Chiho to shoot up from her bed. She had first been confused as to where she was. Then suddenly her phone had started ringing. She had picked it up and started talking to the mysterious caller. The caller had told her about the Yesod fragment in her ring. The caller had asked her whether there were any weapons she was good at and she had enthusiastically said that she was good at archery because she was in the Kyudo Club.  
“I guess I figured out I could do all that stuff after that...but it was really all be. Pretty much.”  
“Um...who was on the line?” Maou asked.  
“Oh! Well, it was definitely a woman...but she never gave her name.”  
“I’m surprised you trusted her...”  
“No kidding.”  
“Well, I figured she wouldn’t be talking to me if you or Maou were her enemy. I mean, look at all the power she had. The bow of light, the aurora thing...she could’ve controlled me like a robot if she wanted to. But she didn’t...so I figured she wasn’t a bad guy anyway.”  
“Wow...Chi, you’ve really got a thick skin for thing kinda thing, huh?”  
“Well, it’s thank to you guys keeping things exiting for me,” she said with a smile. “Besides, when Gabriel first showed up...that really frustrated me.”  
“Oh?”  
“Remember you told me I shouldn’t go near your apartment until everything was worked out with Alas Ramus? I mean, I was glad o see you worry about me and I know I’d just get in the way during a fight...but it was...you know, frustrating. I wished that I had enough strength to fight like you guys. To protect everybody I knew,” her grip on the flowers tightened, “and then...”  
“The woman on the phone offered you her powers?” Maou filled in.  
Chiho shook her head. “Oh, it wasn’t that simple. She told me why I fainted at home...how you and Yusa were fighting at Tokyo Tower and the Skytree...how you were up against Gabriel and an angel I didn’t know...and how she couldn’t go out there herself. All sorts of things.”  
“Did she say why?” Cathy asked more forcefully than intended.  
She shook her head. “No. She didn’t give me a reason. But she did say ‘I’ll protect you if it gets dangerous at all...so please help me protect the people that are so dear to me’ and so on.”  
Cathy was starting to get annoyed by this mysterious caller and it was starting to show on her face. She felt a hand against hers and looked at Urushihara who was silently telling her to stay calm. She smiled slightly in return and continued listening to the story.  
“She asked for my help so seriously so I thought, okay, I guess I can trust her,” Chiho continued.  
Maou was silent for a bit.  
“Like, if I could pitch in and help you if you’re really in trouble...the idea made me kinda happy, to be honest.”  
“Chiho.”  
Cathy smiled at her. “You honestly must be the purest person I’ve ever met.”  
Chiho blushed because of the compliment and looked down shyly. “Th-thank you.” Then she got a hold of herself and smiled up at Maou. “And it felt great too, flying and all. Pretty cold, but great.”  
Maou sighed with a smile. “Well, if that ever happens again, don’t sell yourself out so easy, okay? Talk to me or Emi first. No guarantee it’ll work out so well next time.”  
“Okay.”  
“So does your body feel different at all?” Suzuno asked.  
“Not at all. It just feels like I had a little nap. I’m not in any pain at all. But…I’ve got memories now, that I know don’t belong to me.”  
“Don’t belong to you?” Maou wondered aloud.  
“Yeah. Memories, or…like, really strong emotions. I thought I was flashing back to some old movie at first. But…but I really think they belong to you…Maou…or maybe…to the Devil King Satan.” She smiled sadly. “…I see this really tiny demon. He’s crying his eyes out and he’s covered in cuts and bruises…so then I came in and nursed him back to health and I talked about all these different things…”  
The group hung on every word.  
“It’s like I really wanted to help you out, or…”  
“Chi?”  
“But I was so busy trying to save you that I didn’t tell you the most important thing of all. I was so lost in my ideals that I wasn’t able to see the big picture. That’s why I guess I made you go wrong in the end. I’ve always wanted to apologise, so...I’m truly very sorry. But...what I’m doing now, it’s to the point where I can’t go back to you any longer.”  
“Miss Sasaki...?”  
“...Who are you? What have you done to Chiho’s body?” The look in Maou’s eyes had darkened.  
“You haven’t forgotten about me...have you, Satan Jacob?” She looked at Maou with a different kind of smile, like the one someone would give someone after not seeing them for a long time.  
Maou clattered against the wall. “What...you...how are you...?!”  
“Devil King. I apologise for getting this child involved in this but I had no other choice. My mission is to bring Ente Isla back...to bring heaven, and the demon realm, back to what they must be. In a way, I rescued you then because I thought it’d help me later. I thought you’d grasp the truth I was trying to reach. You, being here in this world right now...that’s no coincidence.”  
“What?”  
“This is the closest land of Sephirot...one will find near Ente Isla. This land of Sephirot is full. Complete. Its seed shall be carried on to the next generation. Neither tilted towards the holy, nor the demonic...and yet, it holds both elements. Truly, a miracle. But our actions dragged down the ‘inheritance’ process. If this continued, Ente Isla will face a disaster on the level of the Demon Overlord Satan’s rise. I simply wanted to stop that...but I couldn’t.”  
“I don’t understand what you’re saying! Just get to the point!” Maou said frantically.  
“My liege, this is a hospital,” Ashiya said, trying to calm his king down.  
“I never took over this child, or possessed her. My memories being copied into her mind was a total incidence. Her brain will do away with them soon enough. But forgive me...I did give her one piece of information I needed her to know. Please...you must find the Da’at of Ente Isla. That key will bring both father and child together.” Then for a second she looked towards Cathy, who was giving off the vibes of pure disgust. “Catarina, you shouldn’t glare at people like that.”  
A deadly smile entered her lips. “And you shouldn’t send out people to do your dirty work because you messed up big time.” She placed her hands on the bed and stared straight into the eyes. “I can’t remember shit of what happened up there, just bits and pieces and most of them concern Gabriel. But I’m pretty sure it was all you guys’ fault in one way or another. What’s worse is now I know you rescued King Satan out of intent of using him in the future, not just the goodness of your heart. You intended on using him, _my king_ , as your pawn. Good angels really don’t exist.” She straightened up. “You cowered,” she said in a quiet voice.  
She smiled regretfully, then reached towards Maou. “I wish you good luck, Devil King Satan.” Then the mysterious woman left Chiho’s body, causing her to sneeze and hold her hands to her face. “Excuse me. So it’s like I’m remembering stuff from back when you were a little kid...so I didn’t know what I should say...” The teenage girl continued telling the story, oblivious to the fact that it had been said and so much more. “Um...Maou?”  
He gave her a blank stare and rubbed his head. “...Oh, sorry. If she wanted to leave a message, she coulda just hit up my voice mail, man...”  
After that they continued talking until everything that needed to be said had been.  
Once they were outside the room, Maou called to his bodyguard.  
She stopped and looked at him. The serious look that had entered her eyes hadn’t left yet.  
“Don’t you think you went a bit overboard?”  
“Was anything I said untrue?” she asked simply.  
“No. But it’s not like she has much of a choice.”  
“She leads us to believe. Yeah, Raguel’s after her, but somehow she still managed to get close enough to Chiho Sasaki to give her those powers. I know Chiho Sasaki gave her consent and everything, okay. But that still doesn’t excuse the fact that it happened. And the weirdest thing is she said that she’d protect her if it got dangerous or some shit. What would she have done then, huh? Suddenly appear and protect her? That makes zero sense if her plan was to hide from them. And like I said, it’s a coward’s move. You should fight your own battles or at least be willing to fight if the need arises, not send someone else to do it for you.” Her lips became pursed. “She probably also intended on doing that to you at some point. And I’m sorry, King Satan, but I can’t let that happen. I don’t trust them. I trust Gabriel the most, but when it comes down to him and heaven’s affaires, I’d still be careful.” The last part was said in a quiet voice.  
Maou nodded.  
Urushihara studied her. “You want to talk about what’s really wrong outside?”  
She held onto her hand. “Sure.”  
Their hands interlocked as they walked to the exit.  
Once outside they found a bench to sit on.  
“So...” Urushihara started unsurely.  
“So...” She let out a sigh. “I fucked up.”  
“Cat, no one could’ve seen that coming.”  
“No, not that part, Lucifer. The part before, where me, King Satan and Alciel were pretty much going against Gabriel and Raguel. Damn, I fucked up big time,” she whined.  
“How?”  
She looked down at his hand holding hers on her lap and managed to calm down enough to say, “So as we’re all well aware, Gabriel’s a beast in battle, while Raguel isn’t. So Gabriel was pretty much put on bodyguard duty while Raguel did whatever he had to do. Thing was, I managed to get past with my teleportation and follow Raguel. But as we both know, I like to drag battles out.”  
He smiled slightly. “That you do.”  
“But ’cause of that all that crap with Chiho Sasaki happened. I’m just wondering that if I had just taken him down, knocked him unconscious, something like that, that that wouldn’t have needed to happen. I know Gabriel would’ve just left with him there, since he was just there for Raguel.”  
Urushihara nodded in understanding. “Honestly I can’t really say what the best thing to do then was, Catarina. But I do think that Chiho Sasaki would’ve had all that crap done to her either way. That woman clearly wanted to tell us something. I know it sucks that it happened to one of us and compared to you she most definitely was cowardly. But you’ve gotta remember,” he smiled at her, “not everyone has the guts to go into every battle and face any foe like you. Not like I’m excusing her or anythin’, just saying, yeah she’s got a reason.” His smile broadened. “But nonetheless, those speeches of you were great. Some people say that people who talk a lot like to hear themselves talk, but in this case I love hearing you talk like that.”  
She blushed slightly. “Thank you, Lucifer.” She buried her head against his shoulder.  
“Nothing. Just telling the truth.” He stroked her head and kissed her forehead.  
She chuckled. “Yeah. It’s funny really. For liars like us, we’re also great at telling the truth.”  
He chuckled. “True.”  
She lifted up her head and looked into his eyes. “But we’ll always tell the truth to each other.”  
“Of course, Cat. I’m not an idiot.”  
She raised her eyebrows amused. “Are you sure about that?”  
He grinned. “Very much so.”  
She tackled him onto the bench. “I thought we’d just agreed on not lying to each other.”  
He smiled daringly into her eyes. “What would you rather have me say, that I’m an idiot?”  
She neared him so their faces were almost touching. “More like you’re my idiot.”  
He grabbed her shirt. “Guess could say that. I’m your idiot, Catarina.” He pulled her into a kiss. “Forever and always.”  
She giggled before she went in for another kiss. “Forever. Because my love for you is eternal.”  
He blushed as he said with a smile, “Probably. If you’ve been able to put up with my bullshit for this long.”  
“True,” she said in a dreamy way.


	43. Pursuit

The next day after work Cathy went back to the hospital. On her way over, she thought of how she should ask about this woman, since she presumed that she must have some ties to it to be able to get that close to Chiho. _Would she use her real name or fake name? She doesn’t even have a surname._ She stopped and smiled. Unless she decided to use the one of her husband.  
She finally reached the hospital and walked in. There she smiled kindly at the receptionist, Mura Namiyo, and asked, “Hello, Miss, I was wondering whether I could see Doctor Lailah Justina.”  
The receptionist looked on her computer and said, “Doctor Justina is currently doing rounds. She’ll be done in an hour. You can see have an appointment then if you want.”  
Cathy nodded in thanks and rubbed her head. “Well honestly, it’s not that really. I’ve been out of the country for a while. We used to go to the same school and I wanted to surprise her. You know, take her out for a drink or something.”  
She nodded. “I understand.” She looked troubled. “She finishes work at around six, so you could maybe even surprise her with a dinner.”  
She chuckled. “Maybe. But it’d have to be a cheap one. Unlike her, I’m don’t really have a well paying job.” Her smile came back. “Not that I mind, I like it a lot.”  
The receptionist nodded and smiled. “Well, I wish you a good day.”  
“Thank you. For you too.” She put her finger to her mouth. “And don’t tell Lailah anything, okay. Don’t want to spoil the surprise, do we?”  
“That we don’t.”  
So the hours past. At one point Maou had called her, asking where she was since even Urushihara didn’t want to say what she was up to, so she had said the same ‘research’. It was true. Whether Lailah was an ally or an enemy, they knew nothing about her. Cathy wouldn’t engage in combat, she wasn’t that eager. Most importantly, she also didn’t have enough magic left. So it was just a ‘get to see what Lailah’s been up to in Japan’ kinda thing. She waited patiently near the exit until her phone finally indicated it was time.  
Cathy went out of view of the exit and watched the professionals now off duty go back home. Finally she saw her. Unlike Raguel, she hadn’t changed one bit. She still looked as young as ever and had her long bluish-silver hair now tied in a ponytail. The way she exuded herself also seemed calm and kind. Though Cathy knew all too well from personal experience that that didn’t mean that she was.  
She watched the angel walk calmly away and once she was far enough and in a crowed enough area, started following her. She would sometimes duck behind people or go to the side to make sure that she wouldn’t be spotted. In truth, she had never actually done a covert operation, not one that she could remember at least, so this was all pretty new. But she knew the basic thing: follow the target and not be spotted. That she was good at. Not being spotted was easy with her casual attire and smaller form. Following the target was even more so since she had been doing that for pretty much her whole life. Definitely since she still kept her motto – a predator always catches its prey – close to her. Though she had changed it a bit to, ‘or leaves a scar on them so they remember not to cross her again’. But since it didn’t sound as cool she kept it to the shorter version.  
Cathy followed Lailah all around, until they finally got off on a station in Nerima. There Lailah continued walking until she reached a block of apartments. This block was fancier than Villa Rosa Sasazuka by far. Cathy stopped and looked at the angel from afar. She could see her unlocking the front door and knew that if she went any further, her cover could be blown. So she just waited and eyed the apartment complex.  
Lailah unlocked the door and opened it. Then she disappeared into the hallway and up the stairs. Minutes later Cathy saw a light being activated on a higher floor. She counted the floors and the rooms and smiled. _Got it. Now I know where you live if you dare come near them again. And I’ll use that drink. I don’t hide behind other people like you do, Lailah. So I’m definitely looking forward to a fight._


	44. Murder most foul

Cathy had been scrolling through the news on her new phone when something interesting caught her eye. A bloody murder in Chosi, with no witnesses and an unknown killer. She selected it and when she saw the face of the victim her mouth fell open. It was the boy who had stabbed her. But hardly anyone knew that it had been him apart from the people there and ... Urushihara.  
She got up and walked toward Devil’s Castle. She didn’t bother knocking on the door and opened it. The fallen angel was the only person still in the apartment. She walked over to him with an easy smile. She wasn’t mad at him. She just needed to know what had gone through his mind. She had pretty much told him not to kill him.  
“Hi, Lucifer.”  
He smiled at her voice and turned. “Hi, Cat.”  
She knelt down beside him. “So my phone’s got this new feature that allows me to see the news easy.”  
“Cool.”  
“And I’ve been going through some old stuff and found that someone’s been killed in police custody in Chosi.”  
“Huh?”  
She sighed and looked seriously at him. “The guy that stabbed me’s been killed, Lucifer.”  
His eyes widened in realisation.  
“Yeah.” She leant on his desk, any easygoing characteristics gone. “But now the question is, who did it?”  
“I didn’t do it, Cat. I swear.”  
She nodded. “Be difficult for you to do. But that doesn’t mean that you’re not partially responsible. You’re the only person who was there who’d want him dead. You literally said it.”  
“Yeah. ’Cause I was pissed as hell that he’d stabbed you.” Even though he was scared of his girlfriend’s wrath, he was still convinced that he’d done the right thing and his voice showed it.  
“Yeah. So what? Apart from that one time, he had nothing to do with us. He wasn’t in our way like Sariel, Gabriel or Raguel. He just did what he thought would protect the people around him.”  
He scowled. “Really? You were the best protection that they had and he tried to take it away.”  
“A mistake.”  
He was up in the blink of the eye. “A mistake? A _mistake_? Cat, I’ve made plenty of mistakes but none of them were as bad as killing the person trying to help me.”  
She stood up and faced him head on. “Oh no?” For some reason even unknown to her, deadliness had entered her voice. “What about when you tried to kill King Satan?”  
“You’re bringing that up, really. You know why I did that.”  
“Yeah. But you still seemed to be enjoying it a lot from what I’d been told. Bloodthirsty to an extreme, no matter what.”  
“As are you! You threaten to cut people up without a second thought and a smile. Have you gotten so great at fooling people that you even managed to fool yourself?”  
“And have you gotten so full of yourself that you think that having someone cut up like that won’t make you the centre of attention?”  
Urushihara was starting to hate it, he could even feel tears forming behind his eyes. But he couldn’t give up. There was still a part of him that was absolutely convinced. “If the scenes had been reversed, you’d have done the same.” He had stopped shouting, his voice had turned serious.  
She gaped at him for a second, lost for words. “No. I wouldn’t have...”  
He looked her in the eyes. “Can you say that with absolute certainty?”  
“No. But you’re...”  
“I’m what?”  
“Supposed to be better than me in that aspect,” she said in a small voice. “You’re always so good at not showing how much you care about the things around you. Out of the both of us, I’m clearly more affectionate. I just...miss that sometimes. So when I look at you I see an old part of me that decided to leave for who knows what reason.”  
A small smile spread across Urushihara’s lips. “Catarina, you’re a wonderful demoness. You don’t need that of me when you can manipulate pretty much anyone into giving you what you want.”  
“How about the name of the culprit?”  
He shook his head. “No can do, Cat.”  
Instead of the previous anger, disappointment entered her face. “Why not?”  
The look caused him to grin. “’Cause I said so.”  
She smiled in a disbelieving manner. “Not the correct answer.” She started walking towards him. “And do you know what you’re punishment is for that?”  
“What?”  
“Tickles,” she said and started tickling him, making him beg to stop.


End file.
